Wednesday, March 13, 2019
In any industry, change and evolution is inevitable, and organizations must put in the work to keep pace. In a recent Fuel Webinar, Tim Woods, vice president of technology alliances at FireMon, used an example of Borders selling its online book operations to Amazon several years ago. The retailer didn't foresee the changing times, believing online retail would not take off. Borders was unable to combine their traditional, physical storefronts with online retail, and now Amazon ranks as the largest book seller in the world.
“We have to be looking for ways to reinvent ourselves. We have to remain innovative. We have to remain competitive,” Woods said. “That’s what businesses are doing today with technology like cloud computing and virtualization, and the Internet of Things.” That’s not to say that Woods doesn’t see the value in traditional infrastructure. On the contrary, it’s combining the old and the new that makes an organization so effective.
Charles Buege has been part of the IT industry for over 25 years. He has a passion for his work, and where some might see an insurmountable problem, he sees another challenge to chip away at. Charles has an at-home lab setup, which has allowed him to author several popular “how to” 
In a recent episode of Unit 42’s podcast, Don’t Panic (
During our June Fuel Chapter preparation meeting, held between Roger Schotsal and myself, the conversation of getting a study group to prepare for the Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) certification came up. We thought of it as a small get together with some folks to see how we could prepare to take the test. We agreed that the best way to market that was at our Fuel Chapter meeting. We announced it at the end of the gathering and it seemed that people were interested. 
It can be tempting for companies to emphasize the adaptation and usage of new security tools. New tools with better features can be flashy, easy to justify and widely available. However, new tools are of no use if they aren't able to be deployed with speed and accuracy to respond to cybersecurity attacks.
As the year comes to a close, it’s a great time to reflect on professional development. What challenges did you face this year, and how will you grow in the new year? One way to do this is to make time for continued education. In a fast-paced, evolving industry, setting aside such time can be difficult, but the benefits are well worth the effort.
Are you an all-star when it comes to cybersecurity know-how? Do you know the ins-and-outs of the details that make the industry tick? Put your knowledge to the test in this quiz from Fuel.
The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) named 2017 “the worst year ever in data breaches and cyber incidents around the world.” In fact, OTA’s 
Editor's note: In this article, Fuel User Group member and head of the Fuel Sacramento Chapter Raphael Carrillo gives us a peek behind the scenes at his local chapter – how they got started, the ways in which they’ve grown, and key learnings from a recent meeting focused on SSL decryption, how to get the most out of a TAC and a mobile office kit.
George Finney is the chief security officer for Southern Methodist University and a new member to the Fuel Board of Directors. Finney is a licensed attorney for the state of Texas and a consummate cybersecurity professional, with three industry certifications to his name: a Certified Information Privacy Professional, a Certified Information Security Manager and a Certified Information Security Systems Professional.