Wisdom of Crowds gets India’s top security minds together in Bengaluru

Cybersecurity professionals create collective wisdom on cyber resilience at Wisdom Crowds in Bengaluru

Cyber Management Alliance’s exclusive Wisdom of Crowds events have become a benchmark in the cybersecurity industry for being the most collaborative and interactive platforms of their nature. And the recent event held in Bengaluru was no different. India’s best and brightest minds from IT and security congregated at the Sheraton Grand Brigade on October 16, 2019. The theme of the day was – Cyber Resilience: The CXO’s Handbook to A Modern Cyber-Resilient Business.  

With the spirit and primary philosophy of Wisdom of Crowds being that the wisdom of many far surpasses the knowledge of one or a few individuals, these events are curated to build a global community of like-minded professionals. No wonder then than the events are hallmarked with their vibrant brainstorming sessions, signature checklist creation sessions, a whole period devoted to intense fun, learning and speaking about subjects that the attendees are most passionate about. 

Amar Singh, globally-renowned cybersecurity thought leader and CEO of Cyber Management Alliance is known to bring a room to life with his great energy, people skills and eye for detail. The attendees of the Bengaluru Wisdom of Crowds, like participants of all previous editions held in different parts of the world, appreciated Amar’s zest, knowledge and above all, his ability to catalyse a variety of intense discussions in the room. Amar opened the event with his address on how we can take the internet back from cyber-criminals. 

Other speakers were no less engaging as they shed light on the new trends and technologies in the cybersecurity space. Saily Paithankar, Senior Associate Presales, Arcon spoke of The Role of Predictive Technologies in the Changing Cyber Threat Space. Hitesh Raul, Head Telco & Alliance, Sophos India & SAARC then gave an address titled ‘Break the Hacker’s Heart by Sophos’. His address focused on leveraging the power of deep learning to fight the most dangerous threats aimed at an organisation’s network. 

Diwakar Dayal, Managing Director, India & SAARC at Tenable talked of how benchmarking against industry peers can help a business to improve its security programme, while Jobbin James, Senior Manager of Sales Engineering, India/SAARC at SonicWall Inc. threw open some interesting discussions on the Impact of AI in cybersecurity and how it is being used by both defence teams and threat actors. 

The speakers and participants alike, enjoyed the interactive nature of the event and the two-way discussions that followed every session. Everyone got their say and above all, the participants expressed their delight at getting such a fantastic opportunity to network with their peers from the industry. 

Here’s a look at the detailed feedback from the attendees of the Wisdom of Crowds in Bengaluru, so that you may know what makes these events so special: 

Nisha Kesavan, Vice President, Group IT Strategy & Transformation, Deutsche Bank: “Firstly, I like the name – Wisdom of Crowds. It’s very interesting that you consider the crowd to provide you that kind of wisdom on a hot topic like cyber management. It was a good networking session. I like the fact that there was good representation from the industry, but the numbers were such that it was easy for everyone to talk and express themselves. I was so glad I could take a day off from work, think outside the box and contribute to something that’s so industry-relevant yet so understated in terms of its importance.”  

Satyavathi Divadar, Director of Cybersecurity, News Corp: “I go to a lot of conferences in general, but this is completely different. Actually, Amar has an eye for detail. He finds a person in the end of a corner and asks him to come to the table. He wants to involve everyone in the room. It’s a great opportunity to learn from many people.”    

Ananth Kumar, CISO, Jana Small Finance Bank: “The best part about this event is the kind of interactive discussions that are happening. Most other events are sponsored by a large number of companies so they take up space and it’s a one-way discussion that ends up happening. This event also brings in so many like-minded people together which is a major thing.” 

Sreeshankar Guruja, CISO, Ocwen Financial Solutions: “About today’s session… I loved it. It has been excellent for three reasons – the choice of subjects, the way they are presented, and the kind of interaction brought forth by industry leaders. That’s been very helpful and I can see everybody getting benefitted out of that. ”   

Phani Krishna Sunkaranam, Data Privacy , Trianz Holdings, “Today’s session was very interesting. The speakers were very knowledgeable and there were a lot of interactions happening with the participants who were also from varied backgrounds, from security, privacy to legal aspects. It was very interactive and a very useful session.”

Sachin Jain, VP- Global Technology, JP Morgan Chase: “We can definitely learn from others’ experiences and it is a good forum for that because you may not have gone through some situations which others may have gone through. It was great for me to interact with other folks, including vendors who are coming up with the latest threat landscapes and how one can be ready for mitigating those landscapes.” 

Nikunj Desai, Director, Cybersecurity, Microland Ltd: “The best part was that it wasn’t one-sided feedback. It was more interactive. People were also in disagreement with a lot of things but that was coming out very well. That gave you a very clear picture of what cybersecurity is going through and how it is evolving.”

Balasubramaniam Narayanan, CISO, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals: “I’m very thankful for getting the opportunity to attend this wonderful event. It has been so nice thanks to the quality of participants, so knowledgeable. It has been a great forum to share our knowledge and also gain from the knowledge and experience of others. I wish I had brought up entire team along today.”

Get more information on future Wisdom of Crowds events 

For further information on participation in a Wisdom of Crowds event please contact dheeraj@cm-alliance.com. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, please contact us info@cm-alliance.com.