EPISODE 44: Embracing Failure in Cybersecurity by Learning Through Trial and Error

This episode we are joined by the brilliant Stefan Gaillard, the co-founder and current chair of the Journal of Trial & Error, a journal dedicated to highlighting the importance of trial and error in scientific practice and scholarship. Trial and error is part of the scientific method but most of us are risk averse because we are so afraid of failure or we take great lengths to cover up anyone finding out that we have failed. There is so much shame around admitting to failure, especially in cybersecurity when, lets face it, most of us will experience the failure of our security controls eventually. But to hide from failure, not only from ourselves but also our peers, means missing out on important learning opportunities. We need to change this! If we don’t think about failure more, we are doomed to keep failing. This episode we explore the importance of removing the stigma from failure, the benefits AND the dangers of tech’s ‘fail-fast’ mentality, what it’s like to live in the information overload age and finally, the importance of trial and error.

Om Podcasten

Dive into “Compromising Positions”, the unique, new podcast designed to iron out the wrinkles in the relationship between cybersecurity teams and other tech professionals. We’re taking the ‘security as a blocker’ stereotype head-on, promoting a shared language and mutual understanding. We’ll turn those ‘compromising positions’ into ‘compromising solutions’, helping security pros and tech teams collaborate more effectively for a smoother, safer digital journey. Every week we will be joined by Developers, User Researchers, Designers, Product Owners, Data Scientists, Cloud Specialists, Scrum Masters, C-Suite Execs, AI/MI boffins, and many, many more non-security positions! This is a podcast aim to get you thinking about security without boring you to death! Join our two hosts, Lianne Potter, Cyber Anthropologist and Head of Security Operations at a major retailer and Jeff Watkins, CTO at XDesign for this informal, frank, and at times anarchic look at what people really think about cybersecurity in organisations and what cybersecurity people should ACTUALLY be doing.