Cyber Mayday and the Day After

CHAPTER 1If I Had a Time Machine

The real trick in life is to turn hindsight into foresight that reveals insight.

—Robin Sharma

Imagine going back in time to watch and listen and change things.

Where would you go? And to what point in time?

Do you have the knowledge, tools, and influence to change things for the better? If so, who would you interact with to alter the specific outcome(s)? What one (or perhaps two or three) things would you do differently, and why?

Yes, you can ponder these questions about virtually any area of life. However, this book specifically addresses cybersecurity incidents or other emergency situations that contain significant cyber components that have in the past, or are in the present, or will in the future, impact global organizations in substantial ways.

Stretching further, society is growing even more reliant on resilient infrastructures that demand functioning cyber protections that involve people, process, and technology components. If we fail, the consequences will be dramatic in real life.

This journey must start with the lessons from the past. We can learn from stories from global cyber leaders and practitioners who have been through cyberattacks and come out stronger. Along the way, we will point to frameworks, checklists, standards, protocols, white papers, and other helpful materials.

If we are going to be equipped for the inevitable cyber storms that are coming in the decades ahead, we must learn from each other and improve faster than ...