The challenges of cyber-security with Forcepoint in 2019

One day in Cork: Learning the nuances, intricacies, and challenges of cyber-security with Forcepoint

The textbook definition for cyber-security talks about protecting systems, networks, and programs from cyber (read ‘digital’) attacks. While this is essentially true, the reality is infinitely more complex, and gets more and more complicated in its ramifications the more one delves into it.

Cyber-security is really a broad spectrum term, a ‘catch-all’ word if you will, which encompasses, studies, maps, and involves a number of technological trends, engineering disciplines, and even behavioral and psychological traits.

The core objective of cyber-security remains the protection of data against interference by bad actors: Hackers, data miners, corporate terrorism, are but a few of the threats that are currently out there. Data, be it personal, corporate, industrial, etc. is a valuable asset which may be sold, traded, or manipulated to stage artificial outcomes or be used for the detriment of certain organizations or individuals. Developing the means to protect data against all known and unknown threats is therefore a key consideration for a business.

There exist a number of number of approaches to protect and secure data systems, and most rely on tech-centric mechanism that guard the devices where data is stored. But this is far from the only method available on the market.

Forcepoint flips the tables and adopts a more human-centric approach to the implementation of cyber-security.

I recently spent a day at the company’s newly opened facility in the south of Ireland, learning the intricacies of this human-centric application of cyber-security techniques.

Forcepoint at a glance

The company’s marketing blurb states that Forcepoint was purpose-built to enable the next generation of cyber-security.

Forcepoint is located in Cork, the city by the River Lee in Ireland. The building is actually brand new, having been officially inaugurated as recently as April 2019. The opening, backed by IDA Ireland, paved the way for the expansion of the firm’s Irish operations. Forcepoint already operates a building in Dublin, which houses the company’s financial services, legal, account management, and associated departments.

Forcepoint offers cyber-security products for corporate clients, government, defence, military, etc, using an innovative, behavior-driven set of solutions to protect both data and intellectual property.

I attended a tour of the brand spanking new facility near Cork city centre, and met key personnel such as Derek Murphy, Senior Director of Software Engineering, Raffael Marty, VP of Research and Intelligence and Head of X Labs, and Margaret Cunningham, Forcepoint’s Experimental Psychologist.

Derek Murphy on Forcepoint’s reason to set up base in Cork, and the future of the site

Derek is a rather approachable guy, eloquent, and quite open to discussing Forcepoint’s Cork operation.

He is a veteran in the technology field, having worked for the prestigious firm McAfee for over a decade, for example. Upon taking up a role in Forcepoint, Derek set out to create the software basis for a sustainable and viable operation in Ireland, with the ultimate goal of developing the Cork site as a centre of excellence.

Derek commended the fact that Cork features a pool of remarkable talent for Software Developers, for instance. This talent remained largely untapped, so the idea was to implement Forcepoint as a greenfield development in the city. At present, the company has around 70 staff, but Forcepoint is in the midst of a substantial recruitment drive that hopes to yield at least an extra 100 new positions.

On his particular role, Derek said that the behavioral approach to security was one of the factors that attracted him to Forcepoint. This is an interesting facet of the company’s vision on all the issues surrounding security, as the focus shifts from protecting devices to protecting data from malicious, or potentially malicious interference, by human actors. One of Forcepoint’s strengths is understanding what’s happening with employees, and other personnel who may have access to sensitive data. Only by understanding the motivations behind human activity one can extrapolate someone’s intentions.

Derek’s day-to-day activities include shaping his software team through communication and leadership, fostering a collaborative environment where work is professional, and also fun.

His ultimate goal for the Cork facility is to accelerate development and streamline customer data as the pillars for the creation of a world-class center of excellence.

Raffael Marty: X-Labs as pioneers of human-centric intelligence

Forcepoint’s success is built on the sum of its parts. And one of these parts is the X Labs, an integral component that lies at the heart of Forcepoint’s security offering.

X-Labs’s core function is to provide security content for Forcepoint products. In simple terms, to supply the building blocks to create a robust and cohesive set of patterns to identify trends in human behavior, so malicious intent can be quickly identified and even predicted. X-Labs utilizes data science and behavioral research to feed data into Forcepoint’s security policies and analytics, creating a comprehensive view of a person’s position and intent.

Raffael Marty is a smart, chatty, and good-natured individual who’s currently at the helm of such interesting department. Hailing from Zurich in Switzerland, Raffael now resides in San Francisco, where he works at a Forcepoint facility as VP of Research and Intelligence, leading X-Labs with expertise and skilled craftmanship in the field of security built over more than twenty years in the industry.

Humans and data: The psychology behind Forcepoint’s solution

Whether we want to admit it or not, humans rely and depend on technology to thrive and survive. Technology heats and cools our homes, and it also helps us move around in our cars, aircraft, or any other method of transportation. Laptop computers, tablets, and of course, the ubiquitous smartphone are integral parts of our daily life. We could hardly imagine life without a mobile phone these days, for example.

The interaction between humans and technology brings up a number of interesting dilemmas and quandaries that originate within the very drivers of the human mind.

The ideations of the human brain are largely driven by sight. The brain tends to believe what the eyes see, but this method is flawed. Technology has now reached a point where it can trick the brain into believing something that isn’t necessarily real or useful.

Then there’s the issue of bias, well explained by Margaret Cunningham, Forcepoint’s Principal Research Scientist and Experimental Psychologist.

Margaret’s experience includes consultancy work with Homeland Security in her native United States, so she is well versed in the issue of security, and has the knowledge and the acumen to discuss the matter.

Her work on Forcepoint has led to the development of key concepts that underpin the company’s products. Margaret postulates that daily cyber-security decisions are influenced by our cognitive biases, for example. Biases occur naturally in human behavior: Confirmation bias, Anchoring, Overconfidence, are among the most common biases displayed by humans on a daily basis.

And these biases do have a bearing in cyber-security. Margaret has studied them, analyzed them, and is helping Forcepoint to build a stronger suite of products by providing data that identifies and recognises these biases. Through this pioneering endeavour, Forcepoint’s products understand riskier players, prioritize risks, and scores every user in different behaviors, creating an analytical model to recognize illicit trends and protect data from malicious interference.

Conclusion

Forcepoint offers a novel approach to the complex issue of cyber-security. By employing experts like the three people mentioned here, and many others working behind the scenes, the company has positioned itself at the leading edge of both technology and security.

The Cork facility will in time become a centre of excellence both for Forcepoint and the security field as a whole.

You can learn more about Forcepoint through its website.

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