Chris Webber

In my latest episode, Okta CEO Todd McKinnon dives into the essential lessons he’s learned on high-stakes decision-making, managing up to the board, and competing against tech giants like Microsoft. Todd also reflects on his journey to founding Okta, his bold choice to team up with a co-founder he hardly knew, and the motivations that have fueled him for over seven years as a public company CEO. Some key takeaways… → How founders can strengthen board communication Early on at Okta, Todd recalls making the mistake of being too passive with the board. He would present issues and ask for input rather than confidently sharing his decision-making process and a clear plan. This approach was ineffective, as the board expects the CEO to lead with clear direction, not to use meetings for brainstorming. He realized the tone needed to shift to, “Here’s what we’re doing, the thought process behind it, the risks and opportunities, and potential ways we might pivot.” Effective board communication involves presenting a well-thought-out course of action, potential risks, and future pivots, rather than merely seeking opinions on challenges. → Okta’s approach to high-stakes decisions One tactic that has worked well for Okta is setting up two teams to present opposing views on big decisions. For example, if they were considering an acquisition, even if Todd was in favor, one team would argue why it’s an excellent idea, while another would argue against it. Each team spends an hour presenting their case, helping to achieve a balanced perspective. Okta uses this approach for product direction, prioritization, people moves, and other compounding decisions. → Focusing on customer value to survive In Okta’s third year, the team struggled to meet expectations, missing a key quarter and facing challenges while trying to raise their Series B. Despite limited signals of success, Todd realized the importance of focusing on true customer value, which he sees as the only reliable indicator of long-term viability. The following quarter, Okta experienced a modest breakthrough, slightly surpassing the sales target and marking a tipping point as market demand began to align with Okta’s vision. Since then, Okta has continued to thrive—even as a single-sign-on product facing intense competition from tech giants like Microsoft—proving the company’s resilience and the strength of its product-market fit. Full episode: https://lnkd.in/dDxbCTiq

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Made some words on Help Net Security about what it means to be an industry leading Enterprise DSPM. Sure, cloud is great and it's benefits are massive, but we can't ignore data on-prem and most importantly, sitting on mainframes processing transactions every day for the last 50-60 years! It's time for contextual visibility across all data domains to ensure proper security, compliance, privacy and governance. Enterprise DSPM the 1touch.io way enables teams to unlock the value of their sensitive data in a privacy-preserving way to drive new business and avoid running into the regulatory buzzsaw. https://lnkd.in/emwjfVG3

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You'll hear Wiz talk a lot about Democratizing Security. That means enabling everyone to have a roll in security without disrupting their mission focus and objectives. Wiz Code exemplifies this. Wiz Code helps expedite the SDLC in a way that is more intuitive to developers and AppSec engineers, while maintaining the same centralized Cloud Security guardrails for the organization. Developers can scan their code in their IDE, have their project checked against policy when uploading to the code repository, and AppSec and Cloud Security teams can open Pull Requests directly from the Wiz platform:

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Dear CISOs/Security experts, This is a rare opportunity to adopt change and take action against cloud attacks. We are helping security teams shift from visibility and prioritization to actually taking down cloud security risks I'm inviting you to meet me at BH (https://lnkd.in/eQssze2q) Happy to show you how the future of cloud security looks like #blackhat2024 #cloudrisk #riskremediation

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Hear from my colleague Neville Pattinson in the article below as he discusses the promise of W3C verifiable credentials and the way they are being built into trust frameworks for #ID and other credentials.

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<SOAPBOX> is it just me or is SaaS pricing whacked? All the security features seem to be in the higher (highest) price tiers. Things like SSO, user provisioning, privacy controls, etc. etc. are all extra cost. doesn't make much sense to me. </SOAPBOX>

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SoCal CISO Community, please join me in welcoming your newest Governing Body member, Julie Harris, CISO at PulteGroup! Tomorrow at 2pm PST, you can find Julie and many other CISOs from your community convening for the final CISO Townhall of 2024. Join virtually tomorrow to discuss: -Enhancing cloud security and cost-effectiveness across diverse cloud environments through managed security services -Leveraging AI innovations while addressing global regulatory and data privacy standards to strengthen security strategy -Sharing best practices for implementing effective cloud security operations across a global footprint to ensure resilience and compliance Register now at My.Evanta.com! #socalciso #evantaciso #aisecurity #cloudsecurity

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Every day, hidden risks like orphaned accounts, outdated permissions, and unnoticed vulnerabilities quietly threaten our digital environments. These aren’t just technical issues—they’re the cracks that can lead to catastrophic breaches if left unchecked. At Loopli, we’re obsessed with finding and securing these risks before they can cause damage. Because in today’s landscape, it’s not just about managing your data; it’s about safeguarding every layer, including the metadata you might overlook. Protecting your business starts with closing the gaps others don’t see. #CyberSecurity #DataProtection #Metadata #Loopli

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Next Wednesday, July 24th, the SoCal CISO Community is connecting for their final 'Summer Series' Townhall of 2024! Don't miss this interactive virtual session led by Discussion Leaders: -Julie Harris, CISO, PulteGroup -Sunil Agarwal, CISO, VP Information Security and Risk Management, OSI Systems -Desiree Wilson, CISO, Quantum M&A -Hugh Jones, Security Operations Transformation Leader, Palo Alto Networks -Roberta French, Vice President of IT, WD-40 Company -Mike Cushing, Head of Global Information Security, Patagonia For over a decade, security leaders and architects utilized a disparate best of breed point solution framework to solve their security challenges. This resulted in bloated security architectures, overlap in capabilities and significant security architecture and integration failures. These failures impacted organization’s ability to scale to meet business demands and reduced stability of the security architecture as environments and data volumes grew. The use of AI driven detections, automation, endpoint security, attack surface management and real-time threat intelligence application were the moonshot achievements for security solutions like SIEM, but were never achieved. Join this session to discuss: -Scaling to meet business demands and stabilizing your security architecture -Reimagining organizational security operations programs based on standardization -Achieving the impossible with security information and event management Community Members register on the mobile app or at My.Evanta.com! #evantaciso #socalciso #infosec

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Okta's latest study, AI at Work 2024, dives into the perspectives of C-suite executives on artificial intelligence. 125 leaders were surveyed across various industries and regions to gauge their views on AI's potential impact on innovation, efficiency, and security. The survey focused on CSOs/CISOs, CTOs, and CIOs, who play key roles in driving these efforts. These leaders shared diverse opinions on AI, highlighting both the risks and opportunities it presents. The report emphasizes that executives need to carefully consider how AI is implemented to avoid falling behind competitors and meeting customer expectations. Don't miss out on the key insights from AI at Work 2024.

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Have you dabbled in low-code development? Well, if you aren’t careful, you could create a data security vulnerability. The @Low-Code Security Alliance just released a guide on everything you need to know about safely pursuing low-code development on Salesforce. Check it out!

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Amplify detection capabilities with Recorded Future's Validated Sigma Rules, crafted by our research team to minimize false positives. Watch to see how to easily search, implement, and configure Sigma Rules without ever leaving Splunk.

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Only a few days left until the SoCal CISO Community meets for the much anticipated SoCal CISO Summit on Tuesday, May 21st! If you haven't met this speaker yet, you've been missing out. Dan M. is an absolute legend! Come hear what he has to say on "Convergence of Digital, Physical and Beyond." There is no shortage of data available to the security function but leveraging that data to enhance physical security — is a different story. CISOs have the opportunity to derive meaningful findings from their environments (both digital and physical) and incorporate security into every aspect of the enterprise — cyber, physical and personnel security. Join Dan Meacham, Global CISO at Legendary Entertainment as he explores: -The past, present and future of expanding your strategy to include physical security -Understanding additional data points and why they are important to your program -Expanding your risk lens beyond securing information and planning for the future Seating is limited and many sessions are already full, but there is still space to join. Qualified InfoSec professionals, apply below! #socalciso #evantaciso #infosec

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Are you coming to RSA Conference? If so, join us at SCW Coffee Shop! Bluestone Lane SOMA Coffee Shop 55 2nd St, San Francisco, CA 94103 On May 6th | 12:30PM PST. Join Secure Code Warrior CTO & Co-Founder, Dr. Matias Madou, Jeffrey Martin from Mendio, John B. Dickson from Lasithi Security, and Viswanath S C. from Thales Digital Identity and Security to learn about: Incredible techniques for winning over developers and helping them prioritize security The challenges in measuring security skill development, and how to overcome them Why a developer-centric ‘Trust Score’ could be the missing piece of the compliance puzzle for every top organization and can unlock the benchmarks needed to reach new levels of risk reduction in code. https://lnkd.in/gMzG2WuJ

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Tired of Cyber Disneyland? Get the facts and find your way around #Cybersecurity #MDR at the N-able Roadshow in #Anaheim today. Hear from vendors, and join us for an incident response tabletop exercise. As pilots are fond of saying, "If it doesn’t feel right, go around. It’s better to explain why you did than have an investigator discover why you didn’t." TTXs are the best way to figure out what's right, before it goes wrong. @N-able roadshows are free--cyber incidents are costly. Register below: https://lnkd.in/g9A8dt8G

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Another cool feature from Huntress Managed #EDR - Active Remediation. This powerful feature allows you to pre-authorize Huntress to take action on your behalf without requiring your manual review and approval.

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