Palo Alto Networks CEO On The Changing Perception Toward Cybersecurity

2015 has been a year where the threat cyber-attacks pose has come front and center. Mark McLaughlin, Palo Alto Networks Inc (NYSE: PANW) Networks CEO, was on CNBC Friday to discuss how the public's perception toward cybersecurity has changed. He also discussed the relation between detection and prevention.

Fine Line Between Trust And Chaos

"I think what's really happening is people are starting to recognize is that we are living in a truly digital age," McLaughlin began. "And a digital age is built on trust; you trust your bank accounts, right? You trust the planes are going to fly in the right direction. You trust the electricity is going to come on when you flip the switch."

He continued, "And there's a lot of infrastructure there, and there is a digital overlay on top of it. And when you hear about all these breaches and things that are not working, it starts to really erode that trust.

"And there's a really fine line between trusting that things are going to work and chaos if you don't trust it's going to work and, I think, there's an assumption that we are on that line right now and we are going to have to fix it."

Related Link: Jeep Hijack Brings IoT Cybersecurity Back Into Focus

Detection And Prevention Are Correlated

McLaughlin highlighted how detection and prevention of a cybersecurity breach are correlated, saying, "They are every related concepts. So, we talk a lot about preventive mindset and that includes detection. The reality of an attack is that an attack has to do a number of things correct in order for it to succeed, not just one thing, not just get in.

"It has to move through your network, it has to find the data, it has to get data out. And any point of that where you could detect the fact that somebody may be in the network, but hasn't completely executed the attack, is a prevention opportunity to stop it there," McLaughlin said.

Image Credit: Public Domain