Christian Have. Image: LogPoint
LogPoint’s Christian Have discusses the importance of data-driven decision-making for chief information security officers.
Cybersecurity has become more important than ever in recent years. This is due to a wider attack surface, more sophisticated threats and the acceleration of digital transformation.
Many believe this digital transformation has become vital for businesses to stay relevant and those that have not already transformed will struggle in the future. But while digital transformation is an important evolution, it increases the risk of cyberattacks if proper security is not in place.
LogPoint is a computer security company based in Copenhagen. Its chief technology officer, Christian Have, brings years of cybersecurity expertise to the role, having previously worked as the head of network security for the Danish national police.
Have is also a guest lecturer on cybersecurity at leading Danish universities and has a bachelor of IT degree from the IT University of Copenhagen.
As CTO at LogPoint, Have is responsible for the entire technology cycle, including vision, strategy, design, development and product marketing.
“My primary focus is on the vision and laying out the strategy enabling us to achieve our goals and ultimately deliver the solutions that keep our customers safe,” he told SiliconRepublic.com.
“While I also enjoy being involved in the design and development process, I’m fortunate to have a team of incredibly talented people taking the lead on design, engineering and product marketing.”
‘We must cease to compartmentalise security data and look at security as a whole’
– CHRISTIAN HAVE
Are you spearheading any major product or IT initiatives you can tell us about?
We have a lot of exciting projects going on at all times, as we’re constantly developing at the forefront in the rapidly evolving threat landscape.
We are quickly transitioning from cybersecurity analytics to cybersecurity operations, from detection to holistic response, including SOAR in our core SIEM [security information and event management] and UEBA [user entity behaviour analytics] platform.
At the same time, we are rapidly transforming into a cloud-based platform and adding XDR [extended detection and response] capabilities. New functionalities are added incrementally at an incredible pace.
How big is your team?
I’m proud to be leading a very talented, multinational team of more than 150 cybersecurity specialists: architects, software developers, engineers and analysts.
The majority of our work is done inside LogPoint but in the past year, we’ve also acquired and integrated two brilliant development teams adding LogPoint for SAP, SOAR and XDR.
This has been a very effective and successful way of accelerating technology development and bringing us ahead on the development curve.
What are your thoughts on digital transformation?
I think talking about digital transformation is a thing of the past. The transformation started ages ago and if you’re not digitally transformed by now you’ve made yourself irrelevant.
What I do think is important is to always include cybersecurity as a fundamental element of your business strategy.
We provide the tools that enable enterprises and organisations to conduct their business efficiently and securely, protecting them against disruptions in their digital infrastructure.
What big tech trends do you believe are changing the world?
One of the trends that I think will shape our industry in the year to come is data-driven decision-making for the CISO. What was once an isolated C-suite position, the CISO role has evolved greatly in the past few years.
He or she has the analytical proof to be empowered and much better informed in board meetings with their peers. By strategically using data, CISOs will be on a level-playing field to have much more transparent and detailed conversations regarding their cybersecurity operations needs.
CISOs will no longer blindly make decisions for their next tools but instead will evaluate each technology solution based on the actionable data they produce and the strength of performance from integrations with current solutions.
In terms of security, what are your thoughts on how we can better protect data?
To better protect data, we need to take a holistic view of security. It’s not enough to identify the problems. We also need to fix them. We must cease to compartmentalise security data and look at security as a whole.
Let me give you an example. In most enterprises, responsibility for security in the infrastructure resides in one department, responsibility for security in business-critical applications such as ERP or CRM systems resides in another. At best, this is inefficient and expensive; at worst, it’s life-threatening.
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