Companies investing in security technology and talent came in second in the Wisegate member survey, while law enforcement prosecuting more cybercriminals and government imposing tougher data security laws and regulations came in tied for third.
Wisegate is a startup social networking site for senior information security professionals, explained Sara Gates, Wisegate’s founder and chief executive officer. The Wisegate community is “highly vetted”, vendor free, and by invitation only, she added.
There is a qualification and certification process for applicants, and members pay a hefty $1,000 a year for the privilege of belonging, but there is no advertising, Gates told Infosecurity.
“People are under intense pressure. They have more decisions to make, less time to make them in, and more complex technology over which to make decisions. At the same time, they have less support available”, Gates said.
“The higher people go in their careers, the smaller their meaningful network becomes. It tends to be just at their company….People who are members of our network are isolated. They are the only people at their company with their job”, Gates related.
Wisegate member Todd Inskeep, vice president of security architecture at Bank of America, commented about the social network: “The questions I ask on Wisegate aren’t questions that I feel like I can ask my network on LinkedIn. It’s too public.”
One of the big differences from other social networking sites is that no vendors are allowed, Gates stressed. “No one is in the conversation except for a true peer. That makes the information incredibly valuable….Our members tell us that…they are much more reticent about posting content and being active” on social networking sites where vendors with a selling agenda are involved, she said.
Wisegate members want to know what their peers are thinking and doing about information security problems. “These people want to be connected with each other for information that is practical and that can help them with their projects”, Gates said.
The Wisegate founder explained that information security professionals in particular sectors can connect and discuss issues unique to their sector. “If I’m in healthcare, I would like to know what other healthcare companies are doing” in information security, Gates said.
Wisegate has highly structured content from information security experts. “We have product reviews, project references, questions and polls by category. Members can arrange calls with each other and post takeaways from the discussion on the site”, she said.