Axios Event: Houston cybersecurity experts discuss solutions to threats

HOUSTON – Cyberattacks are increasing with bad actors targeting critical facets of society from energy infrastructure to election processes.

• This roundtable discussion event was sponsored by Western Governors University.

Why it matters: Such attacks are becoming more advanced in the AI era, and many companies are not prepared to fend off attacks.

What they're saying: "I pull down literally 500,000 pieces of malware a month," Newfold Digital, Inc. chief information security officer Doug Rinehart said.

Attendees called for collaboration among government and industry stakeholders to incentivize solutions to cyberattacks.

• "There is no incentive from the federal government for the owners [and] operators and for the OEMs to do the right thing," Cyber Point Advisory founder and CEO Dd Budiharto said.

"One of the biggest gaps I've seen in organizations that I've been in that makes the difference between having a very strong cybersecurity posture and not isn't so much just the cybersecurity team, it's the technology teams," Freeport LNG information security officer Todd Beebe said.

• Technology teams need to have the knowledge to implement recommended cybersecurity solutions across companies' technological operations, he said.

Expanding workforce and educational training is also a top solution attendees mentioned in shoring up abilities to fend against cybersecurity threats.

• "Education and workforce training I think is key to this," CyManII chief operating officer Rose Todd said.

Sponsored content:

Western Governors University course instructor in the School of Technology Jackie Jakes called for "more of a heavy emphasis on insider threats," noting the rise in threats from somebody inside the organization rather than an external actor.