CIO

Doing business with Dick Bussiere at Tenable Network Security: ‘Engineering is the highest form of art’

“Success is an iterative process, and you never get it right on the first go.”

Sometimes it's better to apologise later than ask permission.

Name: Dick Bussiere

Title: Technical director APAC, Tenable Network Security

Twitter handle: @RichardBussiere

How long have you been in your current role? What business technology issue is your organisation focusing on?

I've been in my current role since July 2013. At Tenable, we're focused on transforming security to meet the business needs of tomorrow. New technologies mean the IT landscape is undergoing an evolution, and the modern attack surface is constantly changing.

The old security model based around "silver bullet" point-products and layered defenses has become obsolete. This means organisations need a holistic approach to security and continuous visibility across not only the traditional network and endpoints, but also cloud, virtual, mobile/BYOD, and Internet of Things. We're helping organisations of all sizes in all industries prioritise security threats and reduce risk and loss across all IT environments.

Our technology provides organisations with continuous visibility and critical context, enabling them to set a baseline of normal activity and detect indicators of malicious activity in real time, enabling decisive action to close gaps and improve overall security.

Staging mock security exercises against the workforce is very effective at fostering security awareness

Dick Bussiere, Tenable Network Security

What are your interests away from work?

I enjoy photography, hiking and travel - the three go nicely together.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Sometimes it's better to apologise later than ask permission. If something needs to be done, just do it!

Professionally, who do you admire most? How long have you been working in IT? How did you get into IT?

Although he’s not directly in IT, I admire Elon Musk. He’s got vision, a plan, and he’s executing on both. I consider him to be one of the great innovators of our age - right up there with Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

I’ve been working in IT, focusing on security, for about the past 20 years. This does not count my earlier life as a software developer. I got into IT when I was promoted out of my development job into more of an architectural role. In this role I had to innovate novel security technologies and strategies. I love this and I’m still doing it to this day.

If you weren't working in IT, what would you be doing?

I’d probably be doing something in technology. I consider engineering the highest form of art.

Can you share a key pointer for fostering an innovative culture in the organisation?

Don’t be afraid to try things, and accept failure as part of the process. Then, learn from what does not work, and try again. Success is an iterative process, and you never get it right on the first go.

Can you share a key pointer for building a diverse team?

Everybody has value, everybody has great ideas. You only need to take the time to listen to these ideas, and embrace them. This is the key to having a strong team, where everybody feels like they are adding value.

There is no doubt that Elon Musk is a man of vision and action. He brought PayPal and electric cars to the masses. He's also CEO and CTO of a company called SpaceX, which made history in the spring of 2012 as the first privately held company to send a cargo payload aboard its spacecraft to the International Space Station. But this is just the beginning. SpaceX's ultimate goal is to enable people to live on other planets. Think: Mars colony.
There is no doubt that Elon Musk is a man of vision and action. He brought PayPal and electric cars to the masses. He's also CEO and CTO of a company called SpaceX, which made history in the spring of 2012 as the first privately held company to send a cargo payload aboard its spacecraft to the International Space Station. But this is just the beginning. SpaceX's ultimate goal is to enable people to live on other planets. Think: Mars colony.

I admire Elon Musk. He’s got vision, a plan, and he’s executing on both. I consider him to be one of the great innovators of our age - right up there with Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

Dick Bussiere, Tenable Network Security

Prepare to be the disruptor - not the disrupted. How did you apply this insight to your organisation, or with a customer you have worked with?

To me, being disruptive means leveraging technological solutions in unique and creative ways that helps to expand how and where technology can be successfully deployed.

I’ve done that with several prospective customers who were looking at other security solutions, and showed them how Tenable Network Security solutions can, among many other things, meet their unique cybersecurity needs at an attractive price point.

One key step organisations can take in the next six months to foster an awareness of cybersecurity?

I think staging mock security exercises against the workforce is very effective at fostering security awareness. For example, many organisations are sponsoring benign phishing attacks against themselves in an effort to have employees understand what a real attack might look like. Falling for an exercise such as this is a great way for employees to learn how to spot and respond to real world phishing attacks.



The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan: The name Henry Ford immediately evokes images of the Model T, but Ford built more than cars. In Dearborn, Michigan, he constructed an enormous history museum with a fascinating collection of scientific and technological exhibits alongside American cultural artifacts.
The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan: The name Henry Ford immediately evokes images of the Model T, but Ford built more than cars. In Dearborn, Michigan, he constructed an enormous history museum with a fascinating collection of scientific and technological exhibits alongside American cultural artifacts.
It was a miracle the original iPhone demo worked When Steve Jobs famously demoed the original iPhone at Macworld 2007, the device was still very much in prototype form. Indeed, Apple engineers have subsequently said that they were pleasantly shocked that the entire demonstration went off without a hitch. From fixing Wi-Fi connectivity that would drop off randomly to a host of other usability problems, Apple engineers went into overdrive in between the iPhone's introduction and its original debut in stores about five months later.
It was a miracle the original iPhone demo worked When Steve Jobs famously demoed the original iPhone at Macworld 2007, the device was still very much in prototype form. Indeed, Apple engineers have subsequently said that they were pleasantly shocked that the entire demonstration went off without a hitch. From fixing Wi-Fi connectivity that would drop off randomly to a host of other usability problems, Apple engineers went into overdrive in between the iPhone's introduction and its original debut in stores about five months later.