Travis McPeak had the pleasure of interviewing Coleen Coolidge, a seasoned security practitioner and CISO. In this interview, Travis and Coleen discussed the importance of creating paved roads, the value of buying solutions, and the magic of collaboration between security and development teams. Here are three key takeaways from their conversation:
- Paved Roads are Key: Coleen emphasized the importance of paved roads across all domains of security, and touched on the paved roads that cloudsec, appsec, SIRT and GRC built at Segment. By using paved roads, development teams can focus more on building their innovative solutions securely in the first place, while security teams can spend less time managing endless vulnerabilities, and spend more time on higher-order problems. This approach is a win-win for both teams and the organization.
- Buy Solutions: Coleen highlights the importance of strategically buying solutions rather than always building them from scratch. By purchasing good, commoditized solutions for well-known and universal issues, organizations can save time and resources while still getting the job done effectively. This approach allows development teams to focus on solving business-specific problems that directly benefit their customer, while leaving non-specific issues to third-party vendors.
- Collaboration is Key: Finally, Travis and Coleen discussed the importance of collaboration between security and development teams. Coleen stresses the need for security teams to remain approachable and open to feedback while also being product managers who respond to the needs of their users. This approach fosters a culture of collaboration and ensures that security is integrated into the development process from the start.
This was a great conversation with Coleen, and we highly recommend listening to the full episode to learn more about these important topics. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions for future episodes. Thanks for listening!
