Comtech

By: Tom Fox
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  • Summary

  • In this new show on the Compliance Podcast Network Valerie Charles and Tom Fox explore the intersection of Compliance and technology.
    2021
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Business & Careers Economics Politics & Government
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Episodes
  • Towards a Cyber-Secure Future with Jenna Waters

    Towards a Cyber-Secure Future with Jenna Waters
    Jun 21 2021
    Jenna Water’s time in the US Navy equipped her with sophisticated skills she now finds invaluable in her work as Cybersecurity Consultant at True Digital Security. She joins Tom Fox and Valerie Charles on this episode of ComTech to talk about how the cybersecurity industry is evolving, her vision to end security breaches, and what she thinks about President Biden’s executive order on cybersecurity. Putting Corporate America on Notice “I think businesses - particularly those that work in industries regarded as critical infrastructure, obviously because of the Colonial Pipeline hack - ...a lot of them know now that they're on notice,” Jenna tells Tom and Valerie. Recent cybersecurity attacks as well as the rise in ransomware, have driven home the need for good cybersecurity. These attacks not only impact businesses but are now tangibly affecting the lives of everyday citizens. Jenna believes this is sparking change in the industry, as the government, companies, and even the general public are taking cybersecurity more seriously.  End Security Breaches Tom comments that his clients are now asking about their information security program, something they weren’t concerned about before. He asks Jenna how she would advise a company to start thinking about this issue. She outlines the steps her company takes to help their clients create a customized cybersecurity program. “...By prioritizing your risk, that's how you can develop a more tailored cybersecurity program,” she points out. She and Tom discuss her vision of ending security breaches overall. She remarks, “For me, ending security breaches is a vision of the future in which a security breach can be detected, identified, and contained effectively… It's not allowing a security incident to go to the point of a security breach… and it doesn't affect or impact the organization or public in any significant way other than maybe the time it takes to contain it.” Improving Cybersecurity with Data “When you're trying to combat this kind of breach, how do you use data?” Valerie asks Jenna. “Cybersecurity is actually one of the best areas in technology where it can be very data-driven,” Jenna responds. Data can help you build a threat profile and come up with an action plan to combat threats. Analyzing recent and past data can help you establish an operational baseline, and in turn recognize deviations from the norm. It can also help you identify gaps and vulnerabilities in your organization. There’s also the global perspective: gathering and analyzing data on threat groups helps you recognize their patterns before they attack. However, don’t focus only on data and ignore basic psychology. Hackers are still just human beings and are “subservient to human behaviors and motivation,” Jenna reminds listeners.  Cyber Risk Assessment is for Everyone “I think everybody could benefit from a risk assessment in terms of cybersecurity,” Jenna tells Valerie; businesses in critical industries should prioritize it. Generally, she recommends an annual assessment. However, it should also be done when there is a significant change in operations or in the direction of the business. She argues that leadership buy-in is imperative: “Leadership buy-in for an organization is paramount to the success of the cybersecurity team.”  Thoughts on Biden’s Executive Order “Do you have any urgent or immediate thoughts on President Biden's executive order on cybersecurity?” Valerie asks. Jenna responds that she is excited and on board with the order. “As cybersecurity professionals, we like to take advantage of every emergency,” she quips. It’s a positive step signaling that cybersecurity is seen as important at the highest levels of government. On the other hand, however, the executive order may not last after Biden’s term of office as it can be revoked by the next President. Additionally, only certain federal bodies are bound by the order. Resources Jenna Waters on LinkedIn  True Digital Security 
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    25 mins
  • Structured Collaboration in Compliance with Charles Schwager

    Structured Collaboration in Compliance with Charles Schwager
    Jun 7 2021
    Charles Schwager is the Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer of Waste Management. Tom Fox describes his role as “one of the most unique CECO roles in compliance around”. Charles, Tom, and Valerie Charles discuss what Waste Management does differently, how the company managed the two major crises of 2020, and why more data may not necessarily be better. Looking at Compliance Holistically Charles explains that all departments at Waste Management work together to build a holistic compliance culture. “We are all partnering together to create a very strong and comprehensive culture of compliance and ethics, so we try not to have one area where it's strong and others where it might be different. We really do try to make it collaborative, holistic and [there’s] a lot of teamwork involved that goes into that,” he tells Tom. Many of their 50,000 employees work on the field, and Charles explains how they foster a “two-way communication loop” for these team members using technology. Handling COVID and Social Injustice Tom asks Charles, “... you asked your compliance team to look at reporting data and perhaps see if there were some new or different insights you might be able to gain from that data. Could you describe the process you and your team went through?” Charles responds that their workforce is reflective of American society, so the two major issues that defined 2020 - COVID and the social justice movement - were reflected in the calls coming through their helpline. “When we saw that, we decided to create a special triage process around that so we could get out in front of that as quickly as possible, knowing that if it happened in one place it could be happening in others,” Charles remarks. He describes the tracking system they put in place to handle both crises. “We were fortunate to be on top of our helpline and utilize it in different ways like that. And the technology worked well for us to have visibility and be able to react to those things.” he points out. Structured Collaboration “I’m a believer in structured collaboration,” Charles remarks. Cross-functional and cross-departmental teams at Waste Management work together to keep up-to-date with compliance. Everyone needs to work together, Charles emphasizes: “it’s only as good as everyone working together and getting that buy in…” The leadership has to want it as well. Their company’s strong compliance culture is proof of this. For Charles, operationalizing compliance means getting everyone actively involved. Using Data Charles tells Valerie, “We really focus on a strong ‘Speak up, Listen up, Follow up’ culture.” He sees increased reporting as a natural result of their focus on building a vibrant compliance culture. Valerie asks his thoughts on whether data analytics will transform compliance in the future. He responds that it’s a good skill set to have in your organization and that he is always thinking about how to use data. However, he argues, “If you really don't understand the data, it can create situations where people extrapolate or make conclusions that... are faulty.”  Resources Charles Schwager on LinkedIn Waste Management
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    18 mins
  • Technology, Learning and Communications with Natalia Shehadeh

    Technology, Learning and Communications with Natalia Shehadeh
    Apr 26 2021
    Natalia Shehadeh is a well-known compliance expert who worked in the energy sector for over a decade. She is now the Chief Integrity Officer at ABB, a multinational corporation in the robotics and process automation space. Natalia believes that using data and technology in compliance is no longer an option: “It is absolutely mission-critical to the proper functioning and success of our function and our mission,” she tells Tom Fox and Valerie Charles. In this week’s show, Natalia chats with Tom and Valerie about the importance of leading with data, including how to use data to measure cultural buy-in.   Building Culture with Data “We are trying to look at opportunistically, how to leverage data for purposes of giving us real-time insights on the health of our integrity culture in the company; how to do so effectively and efficiently, and with a real keen eye towards innovation,” Natalia remarks. Her cross-functional team - which includes data professionals and business analytics experts - is a major reason they have been so successful in moving towards that goal, she says. Their focus is not only on monitoring from a risk perspective, but also measuring how effective their communications for learning purposes are. Valerie asks her about the data sets they use. She explains that they monitor internal social media posts as well as their learning assets to measure sentiment. “A lot of data we’re looking at and trying to get a feel for, Are we communicating effectively in the eyes of our employees? And how do we think that's moving the culture needle?” she tells Valerie. Getting Cultural Buy-In “Data analytics or tech solutions on their own aren't particularly useful without the cultural buy-in of the organization,” Valerie comments. She asks Natalia how she gets buy-in at ABB. Natalia responds that ABB is a data-focused organization, so they understand the importance of using data. However, she advises, it takes “care and feeding culturally” to get to the point where you have quality data sets that can provide rich insights.   Facilitating Learning Through Data ABB is focused on “communicating learning in an effective way”, Natalia tells Tom and Valerie. To this end, they revamped their approach to employee training, focusing instead on a data-driven stratified approach. Traditional compliance and integrity training is no longer mandatory; instead, employees interact with learning assets as and when they need, similar to how they use Youtube to find a quick solution to a problem. “We really believe in inculcating an adult self-learning objective,” Natalia says. “...The concept is [to] create a simple learning approach where people will want to come back for more because it's easy, it answered the question that they had, and hopefully we can make it a little bit fun.”  Resources Natalia Shehadeh on LinkedIn  ABB
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    22 mins

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