Business

After Miami-Dade schools’ cyberattack, CEOs review their firms’ cyber protections

By Herald Staff

September 23, 2020 6:00 AM

On the first day of the 2020-2021 school year, Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho recounts the software outage that hindered connection to online learning for thousands of students within the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. He spoke at a press conference at iPrep Academy in Miami on Aug. 31 . After this incident, CEOs were asked: Miami-Dade County Schools recently experienced a significant cyberattack. Have you, or do you, plan to invest in cybersecurity protection for your business? Daniel A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com

As a former teacher, I was deeply saddened to hear of the disruptions to the virtual learning setting since the beginning of the MDCPS 2020-2021 school year. The pandemic has placed an emphasis on the virtual environment, which has made the need for cyber security a vital one. At Mana, we do have cybersecurity contracts, as our company holds personal information that demands a high level of protection for our clients. Given the increase in attacks overall, we continue to monitor and explore expanding our protection plan.

Michelle Abbs, Miami director, Mana Tech

We have found that a “layered defense,” with multiple levels of protection and detection, is critical. Unfortunately, the greatest vulnerability for any organization continues to be human behavior, so we have made security awareness a priority, and have implemented periodic phishing exercises, along with annual training for everyone within our firm to help guard against a breach.

Luis Flores, managing partner, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Miami office

Security is a big concern for us and our industry, which have been attacked by scammers due the size of our transactions. We have a number of security programs that protect and alert us for any breaches. Like most security, there is no perfect system. Education of users and constant monitoring are the real game changers.

Mike Pappas, president, CEO, The Keyes Company/Illustrated Properties

The banking industry has been becoming increasingly digital and, as such, Power Financial Credit Union has been transitioning from a nonprofit banking cooperative to a nonprofit cooperative digital company that provides financial services knowledge. Our latest data indicates nearly 85 percent of our banking transactions are conducted electronically and remotely, as opposed to an in-person transaction at a physical branch. This mandates state of the art cybersecurity protection. It is table stakes for our nearly 40,000 members who trust us with their financial information and access it millions of times weekly. In addition, it is essential to remain in positive light with our state and federal regulators, as cybersecurity is one of their top examination priorities. We consider a cyberattack of any type an existential threat due to the reputation risk, liability exposure, and potential significant financial loss. With a school district, it was frustrating. With our business, it could be more like “game over.” Invest in cybersecurity protection? You bet! It is top of mind as a substantial portion of our operating budget every year goes toward remaining best-in-class protection, in terms of technology and talent among our team.

Allan Prindle, president, CEO, Power Financial Credit Union

We have implemented security measures through our website utilizing the most current software available. We also carry additional liability insurance to safeguard against any unwanted cyber intrusions.

Mindy Solomon, owner, director, Mindy Solomon Gallery

The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science has extensive cybersecurity protection in place, led by an experienced in-house IT team. In addition to top-of-the-line antivirus programs, the museum also has firewall protections in place for internal and external threats. All data is backed up with contingency plans in place in the case of an unforeseen situation. The museum also has a state-of-the-art building-wide monitoring system that performs over three million scans per day that can report any unusual activity.

Frank Steslow, president, CEO, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science

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THE MIAMI HERALD CEO ROUNDTABLE IS A WEEKLY FEATURE THAT APPEARS IN BUSINESS MONDAY OF THE MIAMI HERALD. RECENT QUESTIONS TO THE ROUNDTABLE HAVE INCLUDED:

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