With the numerous data breaches happening every day, identity verification and cybersecurity issues have been on minds of many C-level executives. We telephoned one of the premier expert communicators in the cybersecurity industry, the Executive Director of Kantara Initiative Joni Brennan, to speak about what her association does and what are the most pressing issues in cybersecurity today.
I’ve seen you call yourself a “tech evangelist,” what does that mean?
Here’s my personal experience as a tech evangelist. I’m not an engineer, but with years of education and over a decade in the business of IdM, I understand the resources needed to innovate, why we should try to innovate and the risks involved. As an evangelist, I explain the technologies, opportunities and risks in a language that varying communities can understand. If I’m talking to a government agency or industry, the message is constant, and I tailor the language to resonate with the audience.
Where does the name Kantara come from?
One of our board members, Nat Sakimura from the Nomura Research Institute, is Japanese, and I believe spent significant time in Kenya. He suggested that we should name ourselves Kantara, because it has roots that mean “bridge” in Swahili. And that’s what Kantara seeks to be—a global-facing strategic bridge between traditional and non-traditional IdM networks.
What is the mission of Kantara Initiative?
Kantara Initiative connects leaders in identity services innovation to set strategies, develop innovations and then verify innovation trustworthiness. They can be large industry players, governments, or even individuals. We’re connecting traditional and non-traditional groups to leverage shared intellect and resources. An example of non-traditional groups might be enabling healthcare organizations appropriately leverage services from financial institutions.
We bridge the communities—private and public—to instill the strengths of the private sector to benefit the public sector. But it’s not just about connecting business-to-business or government-to-business, we’re growing access and addressing real world needs that increase customer and citizen engagement and help companies innovate responsibly around identity security and personal data privacy.
We help industry and governments to engage with customers and citizens in a secure environment for relationship based loyalty and market growth. Companies can better position to responsibly sell to customers in a dynamic exchange, while governments can engage citizens online in a secure manner.
How have the recent data breaches on federal agencies and departments changed any policies or procedures at Kantara?
Since we started in 2009, we’ve seen a steady uptake in government agencies and industry reaching out to us. The breaches just illustrate what we’ve always known—security threats run through just about every online interaction. Our mission is constant and our focus of being that strategic bridge to address security issues is that much stronger now.
How is the Internet of Things changing the landscape for privacy concerns in the future?
We’re particularly interested in IoT Privacy. Privacy is paramount for the Internet of Things. Security and access control are parts of a privacy strategy (who has access to what information and when). Our User-Managed Access group (UMA WG) meets that challenge with a focus on business drivers as part of the solution set.
As a teenager, I was an EMT first responder. I would climb inside a car wreck to help the victim while fire fighters cut the car open. So I think about first responders who can be equipped with sensors in disaster and emergency situations. IoT gadgets can transmit data for temperature, air quality, a first responder’s location, and much more. We have to reasonably trust the device, the integrity of transmitted data, and the controls for access to that data.
We’re not trying to “boil the IoT Ocean.” Rather, we focus on real world use-cases, like first responders, to produce impactful innovation.
Our groups are focusing on the IoT standards landscape as a whole (IDoT DG), reviewing and reporting. We’re researching the nuances of digital relationships between people, devices, and entities (IRM WG). Finally, our Identity Assurance Working Group (IA WG) works to incorporate IoT concepts into our evolving trust framework. We’re working to bring focus and simplicity for trusted identity IoT based innovation to that complex world.
There are have been a few articles lately about the lack of females in the cybersecurity field. How do you feel about the call for more females in cybersecurity?
We all have unique perspectives; it could be a male, female, minority or a different cultural perspective. I’m a woman partly of Puerto Rican decent. I’ve seen how certain groups are less represented. I do think about certain issues like privacy, harassment, and stalking. I don’t need the world to know my every move. That may be unique to me, or because I’m a woman, but no matter who or what we are, a diverse representation makes our work better.
Anything you want to add?
I’ve always admired the innovation of ID.me, because your company has been committed from the beginning not only toward helping consumers, but toward helping the people who do good for our communities (veterans, first responders, etc). That underlying value, coupled with real world business value, is admirable and we’re proud to have ID.me as part of our Kantara membership!
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