GTAZ welcomes delegation of cybersecurity leaders: hosted by Spencer Fane & local partners

From April 21st through 26th, Global Ties Arizona was pleased to welcome a delegation of international cybersecurity leaders focused on “Advancing an Open, Reliable, & Secure Digital Economy”. The group took part in professional meetings and visits with industry experts during their stay in the Greater Phoenix area. 

The group was comprised of nine participants of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, representing nine different countries: Norway, Morocco, Maldives, Paraguay, Spain, Panama, Rwanda, Nepal and Tajikistan.

The group’s first meeting took place at Spencer Fane, hosted by Michael Patterson (Partner - Business, Corporate, M&A, International), and featuring Shawn Tuma, national cybersecurity expert and Partner at Spencer Fane. Other local industry leaders also joined the group for the discussion, and Spencer Fane sponsored lunch for the group.

Shawn Tuma has practiced in the area of Data Privacy and Cybersecurity law since 1999, and is widely recognized in cybersecurity and data privacy law. He is also an author, instructor, and an analyst for the national media in this area. His practice covers the areas of Cyber Risk Management, Cyber Incident Response, and Cyber Security, Hacking, and Data Breach litigation.

The group engaged in a robust roundtable discussion, as Tuma shared examples and information of cases of clients that are faced with significant cyber threats at a much higher rate than ever before. Tuma expressed that it is important that clients understand that there is no one tool that stops cyber attacks — that it is a process in which organizations must continuously assess risk and determine what needs to be done to mitigate risk. 

Tuma also discussed the various laws affecting both the public and private sectors to protect networks, information, and individuals, as well as how laws and protections vary from state to state.

“One of the most important hurdles is getting companies to see how important cybersecurity is and that it’s not just an IT risk,… when you get hit with a successful cyber attack, you have to stop everything until that can be undone,” said Tuma. He shared that the best thing that companies can do is “plan for resilience” and “learn how to protect ourselves” before a cyber attack even happens. 

“Life isn’t about how hard you’re hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Our job is not about stopping every hit - it’s about how we keep [hackers] from getting in and stealing valuable information, getting into our network, and shutting down our operations.” Tuma continued by sharing the importance of training and planning amongst organizational teams through scenarios of incidents, building a process that everyone is aware of, communicating, and most importantly, knowing who is on your team.

Spencer Fane provides steady guidance for any organization looking to build an effective data privacy and cybersecurity program that identifies, assesses, and mitigates risk related to data collection. For more information, visit: https://www.spencerfane.com/service/data-privacy-and-cybersecurity/.

The delegation was also hosted by other members of the Greater Phoenix cybersecurity community throughout their time on the ground from April 21st through 26th.

Acronis SCS hosted a community roundtable at their headquarters, Advanced Business Learning ran a technical workshop for the group, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation invited various industry partners of AZ Cyber Talent to a roundtable conversation and an evening networking opportunity with the delegation.

Global Ties Arizona is a community-based member of Global Ties U.S. and implements the International Visitor Leadership Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State for central and northern Arizona. Special thanks to our partner for the program “Advancing an Open, Reliable, & Secure Digital Economy”: Meridian International Center.

The delegation also enjoyed cultural visits while in Arizona, including a trip to Sedona.