Glendon Schmitz is the Chief Information Security Officer for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services and has emerged as a pioneer within the complicated panorama of cybersecurity. His journey is a narrative of strategic foresight, skillful management, and relentless efforts to strengthen the digital frontier.
Amid the dynamic evolution of know-how, Glendon’s popularity as a world cybersecurity visionary is greater than only a title, it displays his impactful trajectory. With a distinguished profession within the United States Air Force and authorities companies, he has led the event and administration of safety techniques with unparalleled success. His experience lies in constructing and implementing future-proof assist buildings, scalable infrastructure, and strong architectures that seamlessly align with enterprise imperatives whereas enhancing safety measures.
Glendon’s impression just isn’t restricted to conventional measures. As cybersecurity supervisor for 12 Virginia psychological well being companies, he led a crew of data safety personnel to diligently monitor and implement a complete vulnerability administration program that achieved spectacular danger and menace reductions. Adjusting. His govt function extends to key management members of his crew and offers vital perception into evolving cybersecurity dangers, threats and techniques.
But Glendon’s affect extends past technological enhancements. A driver of steady enchancment, he instituted an enterprise-wide asset stock administration program that ensures thorough documentation and analysis of IT and utility inventories. His dedication to consciousness and privateness is mirrored in his implementation of complete cybersecurity consciousness and HIPAA Privacy coaching applications for 1000’s of workers throughout distributed amenities. He is constructing a resilient and safe digital setting for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services.
Dig into our story of innovation, collaboration, and the relentless pursuit of excellence in defending delicate information and infrastructure.
unleash development
Artificial intelligence is evolving very quickly and its disruption has pressured all firms to refocus on easy methods to obtain their objectives each within the brief and long run. Glendon emphasizes that GenerativeAI, when used correctly, performs an important function in accelerating enterprise development. He cautions towards utterly dismissing these rising AI applied sciences and recommending a cautious strategy. These new AI applied sciences shouldn’t be rejected for safety causes. Instead, we advocate comprehensively assessing danger and placing strong guardrails in place to guard your corporation.
Building belief, distant management
In his present function, Glendon confronted a cybersecurity state of affairs that had initially been placed on the again burner with minimal organizational maturity. The group’s geographic unfold throughout Virginia compounded the problem. Looking again on his early days, he says, “When I first stepped into my present function, cybersecurity was an afterthought and organizational maturity was virtually non-existent.”
Second, the shift to distant work has required a readjustment of management methods. Glendon deftly navigated this case by studying easy methods to command from a distant location and creating a extremely environment friendly distant safety crew. The third problem was round securing his distant workforce setting, a problem he addressed by collaboration and strategic alignment along with his chief data officer (CIO). “I labored very intently along with his CIO to verify each objectives and initiatives had been aligned,” he says.
The fruits of those efforts has pushed cybersecurity from the shadows of the again workplace to the forefront of each day operations. His strategy, based mostly on relationship constructing and strategic collaboration, not solely raised cybersecurity consciousness however positioned it as an integral a part of the group’s overarching objectives. As Glendon aptly places it, “It is thru these trusted relationships that cybersecurity professionals can succeed inside their organizations.”
symbiosis of success
Glendon emphasizes that it’s important that his crew aligns with broader organizational objectives that mirror excellent management. “My job is to know the strategic targets of the group and translate them into operational and tactical duties for the crew,” he asserts. Translating strategic imaginative and prescient into actionable duties is vital to success, requiring seamless collaboration with cross-functional groups.
Glendon emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between a safety crew’s success and the general prosperity of a company. “Security groups can solely succeed by absolutely understanding and translating strategic targets and collaborating with cross-functional groups inside the group,” he emphasizes.
Glendon emphasizes the necessity for agility and suppleness within the dynamic realm of cybersecurity. To obtain these objectives, safety groups should stay agile and versatile. This adaptability is paramount in coping with a posh and evolving world menace panorama, guaranteeing not solely safety but additionally strategic resilience for a company’s continued success.
Improving safety tradition
“We briefly talk about the general danger that the answer poses to the enterprise,” he explains. A deal with cautious evaluation, danger mitigation and collective agreements will be certain that options are applied with employers’ knowledgeable acceptance of residual dangers. As Glendon factors out, this strategy strikes a stability between guaranteeing the setting is on the proper degree to empower the enterprise with out hindering its targets. Collaborative company involvement in cybersecurity decision-making contributes to a greater safety tradition inside a company. From his perspective, it is not nearly securing techniques, it is also about fostering collective duty for the group’s safety.
Risk discount
In revolutionizing information safety, Glendon shares an modern technique: “We have launched an AI answer that may generate artificial information that may be a devoted illustration of manufacturing information.” This modern strategy considerably reduces the chance of compromise within the underlying setting by two-thirds. Working with companies, he goals to maneuver away from conventional information sharing to offering companions with artificial information units that guarantee a practical illustration of manufacturing information. This transition not solely prevents breaches but additionally minimizes the publicity of personally identifiable data (PII) and private well being data (PHI). Moving from information sharing to information utilization agreements accelerates the information provisioning course of for companions.
Additionally, Glendon took a proactive stance towards ransomware and breaches, claiming that he’s “contemplating utilizing artificial information solely inside our techniques for analytical functions.” This strategic shift to utilizing solely artificial information ensures zero danger. If a system is compromised, erasing the setting and recreating it utilizing a brand new artificial dataset is a fast restoration answer. He emphasizes that this not solely strengthens safety, but additionally helps companies get again up and operating. Synthetic information integration not solely enhances information safety, but additionally positions organizations on the forefront of resilient and environment friendly information administration practices.
guiding ideas
Glendon emphasizes the vital want for steady studying in cybersecurity in an ever-changing know-how area. “Continuous studying is completely needed for in the present day’s cybersecurity professionals to achieve success,” he asserts.
Glendon takes a proactive strategy, personally digging into new applied sciences to know not solely their capabilities, but additionally their potential purposes inside a company’s enterprise items. This proactive perspective permits him to evaluate potential threats and information his crew to danger mitigation. To maintain abreast of the ever-changing technological horizon, Glendon actively participates in conferences each in particular person and nearly. He acknowledges the dear insights gained from interacting with different Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from numerous industries.
The underlying precept of Glendon’s philosophy is a agency dedication to studying and in search of recommendation. In his actual phrases: “Never cease studying and by no means cease asking for recommendation and assist from others.” I reframed it as an indication of energy quite than weak point. According to Glendon, this willingness to ask for assist and acknowledge the boundaries of 1’s personal information is a crucial step in turning into a simpler chief. As the technological panorama continues to evolve, his strategy serves as a information for cybersecurity professionals, encouraging a mindset of fixed studying and collaborative information change.
Business-driven safety
Build belief and destroy egos
“Be daring! Be inventive and discover options to issues,” he recommends. Recognizing the interdependence of safety and IT, Glendon emphasizes the significance of collaboration. “Work along with your IT crew to know their challenges and the way your cybersecurity crew will help remedy them,” he advises. Emphasizing that their actions affect one another, he stated, “Remember that safety’s actions as a crew have an effect on his IT crew, and the IT crew’s actions have an effect on safety. ” he emphasised.
Importantly, Glendon advocates humility and a collaborative mindset. He claims: “Check your ego on the door. Build a community of different cybersecurity professionals with whom you’ll be able to talk about challenges and answer concepts,” he suggests. Trust emerges as a cornerstone of his philosophy. This belief, collaboration and creativity not solely empowers his cybersecurity crew, but additionally contributes to the general success of the crew, the chief, and general enterprise objectives.