Afni’s Brent Deterding on deploying MFA for 10,000 employees and becoming "the Happy CISO"

In a recent episode of The Future of Security Operations podcast, Brent Deterding, currently the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of Afni, discusses his journey and unique approach to security leadership. With over 25 years of experience in the field, Deterding shares insights from his unconventional path to becoming a CISO and highlights the importance of reducing stress in incident response while emphasizing risk prioritization and leadership as major challenges in the security domain. Known as "the happy CISO," he focuses on maintaining high job satisfaction and building a team with zero attrition. Brent advocates for strong security measures such as multi-factor authentication, endpoint detection and response, and rapid patching to mitigate common risks like ransomware and phishing. He also discusses the need to focus on efficient processes and recounts his strategic approach during his first three years at Afni, aiming to make security operations seamless and non-urgent. Deterding's philosophy underscores the importance of basics in cybersecurity, advocating for simplicity and a renewed focus on fundamental practices to enhance security effectiveness.