Meet the expert: Igor Gutierrez to speak at Last Thursday in Privacy

Broadcasting on January 26, Last Thursday in Privacy is a livestreaming experience that takes global audiences to the heart of the issues defining today’s digital landscape.

Igor Gutierrez is an Information Security Officer and DPO at B. GROB do Brasil S.A. Igor leverages a wealth of experience in Data Protection, Governance and Risk sectors, and will be appearing exclusively at Last Thursday in Privacy to discuss insider threats and how organisations can bolster internal security. 

We caught up with Igor for details on his professional journey, and more on the issues addressed in his forthcoming session at Last Thursday in Privacy.

Could you briefly outline your career pathway so far?

I am an Information Security Officer and Data Protection professional with over 22 years of practical cybersecurity, Data Privacy, and Governance, Risk, and Compliance experience. I am responsible for strategic thought leadership around all of my company’s technology and cybersecurity. I have won two national awards as Security Leader and am a national and international keynote speaker. I have also worked in Big Tech, the finance sector, and am presently occupied in industries related to electromobility and automation.

Could you describe the latest trends that are dictating how businesses deal with the problem of insider threats?

I still believe that cyber intelligence is ahead of technologies specifically. By this I mean using information contained in logs and metadata of company resources to generate intelligence to identify suspicious behaviour.

I have written an article about this and have been applying this methodology to this day. Obviously automated tools such as User Behaviour Analysis, SIEM, and DLP help us, but we need to understand company culture and possible triggers that show us insider threats. 

We can go further using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Both can help companies detect early warning signs of an attack based on deviations from standard use patterns.

What primary challenges do companies face as they bid to optimise protection around sensitive information?

Until recently, companies had good controls and processes to protect sensitive data. However, due to the latest global events, companies have had to deconstruct many of their policies and controls to meet the demand for remote work. This has become a major challenge to balance security and usability without compromising corporate and sensitive data.