Eddie Schwartz is Chief Security Officer of NetWitness and has 25 years experience in the information security and privacy fields. Previously, he was CTO of ManTech Security Technologies Corporation, EVP and General Manager for Global Integrity, SVP of Operations at Guardent, CISO for Nationwide Insurance; and as a Senior Computer Scientist at CSC he was Technical Director of the DSS Information Security Laboratory. Mr. Schwartz has advised a number of security companies, and served on the Executive Committee for the Banking Information Technology Secretariat (BITS). Mr. Schwartz has a B.I.S. in Information Security Management and an M.S. in Information Technology Management from the George Mason University School of Management.

In the following interview, Eddie Schwartz, Chief Security Officer of NetWitness discusses with Rake Narang, editor-in-chief of Consumer Products Guide, Zero-Day Attacks, Cybercrime and Advanced Persistent Threats.

Rake Narang: What is the most important issue facing Chief Security Officers (CSOs) today? And why is this a concern?

Eddie Schwartz: Advanced attacks and zero-day malware are rendering legacy approaches to computer network defense virtually worthless. Enterprises struggle to both discover in a timely manner and reduce the impact of complex data breaches. When thinking about the scope of most information security programs, all the compliance, defense in depth, and other traditional approaches do not amount to a hill of beans if an enterprise cannot learn to detect and stop advanced adversaries before they walk off with the crown jewels. Security must evolve and must become agile to cope with the current threat landscape and the dynamic needs of the enterprise.

Rake Narang: How do NetWitness solutions prepare enterprises against advanced threats and zero-day exploits?

Eddie Schwartz: NetWitness has redefined the network security landscape by pioneering a single, core enterprise platform permitting enterprises to know everything happening on their networks. By deploying a precise and pervasive lens into all activity across the entire network, security teams can readily answer any question they may have about events that have occurred in the past, gain situational awareness in real time about activities happening right now, and possess the agility to adapt to the changing threat and IT landscape. No other security technology offers this revolutionary level of comprehensive network analysis and visibility.

Rake Narang: Will the security vendors always be playing a catch-up game with hackers and attackers? How do you see the security products evolving 2-3 years from today?

Eddie Schwartz: Signature and statistical-based security technologies, operating on assumptions of either a need for attack foreknowledge or using a narrow scope of analysis always will be chasing the attacker. Even so-called “malware protection systems” simply employ basic techniques to look for certain behavioral attributes in a sandbox and create IPS signatures, but they too miss many types of attacks. Security must be data-centric to be effective both today and in the next three years. All network-based security will operate from the perspective of full access to all network traffic and the ability to perform various types of real-time and specialized analysis.

Company: NetWitness

10700 Parkridge Blvd.,
Reston, VA 20191 U.S.A.

Founded in: 2006
CEO: Amit Yoran
Products and Services: Network Security Monitoring Software
Company’s Goals: Enable enterprises to significantly lower the risk associated with advanced cyber adversaries and zero-day attacks by providing a revolutionary platform for pervasive and precise network analysis and visibility.