CISO Insiders Episode #63 – Jim Baskin | Director of Cybersecurity and Compliance at GigNet

In the latest episode of CISO Insiders, we welcome Jim Baskin | Director of Cybersecurity and Compliance at GigNet, for an eye-level conversation about his journey into cybersecurity, advice for young cybersecurity professionals just starting out, and how the industry will evolve in future.

Timestamps:

00:00 Guest Introduction and professional journey

02:10 Icebreakers

03:44 What’s the one thing you wish you had known before starting your career.

04:41 Biggest failure & success in your career

08:52 What advice would you give to somone who wants to become a CISO

14:04 Do CISOs belong in IT?

15:38 What did you do in order to learn more about cybersecurity?

19:35 Debunking one common myth about cybersecurity

20:30 What are the main concerns of CISOs nowadays

24:57 How the role of CISO is evolving?

31:50 What is innovation in the cybersecurity space?

34:25 Advise for cybersecurity vendors?

38:32 Closing comments

Highlights:

What is one thing you wish you knew before beginning your career?

• You want to be completely prepared for any job you take on. Someone believes in you enough to challenge you for something you may believe you are not prepared for; I would say go for it and be honest and transparent about your ability and experience in that domain.

What advice would you give to someone interested in becoming a CISO?

• Go deep or wide, but at least one of these. You can discover that cybersecurity has numerous dimensions. You can take classes, webinars, and certifications, which are all excellent ways to broaden your perspective and add value to your career. There are some things that you must continue to learn as time passes. Because cybersecurity changes so quickly, you must stay current and engage in some self-directed learning.