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Discussion Board: Protecting Availability

In this discussion board, you are the CISO for a publicly traded company. What protections would you implement to ensure availability of your systems (and why)?

If I were the CISO of a publicly traded company, I would focus on making sure the company’s systems stay available because employees and customers need to be able to access important information at all times. I would use things like backups, redundancy, and failover systems so that if one system goes down, another one can take over and keep everything running. I would also make sure software and hardware are updated regularly because outdated systems can cause problems or make the company more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

I think having a disaster recovery and business continuity plan would also be really important because unexpected things like natural disasters, fires, or cyberattacks can happen at any time. Keeping backup copies of data in a separate location would help prevent data loss if something went wrong. I would also use firewalls and monitoring systems to help detect problems early and protect the network from attacks that could make systems unavailable. Even though I am still learning about cybersecurity, it seems like having multiple layers of protection is the best way to make sure a company can keep operating without major interruptions.

Discussion Board: The IT Organization

In this week’s Perusall reading, John McCarthy’s 1955 Dartmouth Conference is cited as the birth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a goal to move computers beyond binary tasks toward “thinking machines”. The text argues that the current generation of AI, specifically Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, will impact your career as significantly as the internet impacted previous generations.

Task: Write a 250-word response addressing the following:

1. How does the document describe the necessity of understanding AI tools for future professionals? 
2. Discuss the “Data Management” responsibilities mentioned in the text (such as data governance and compliance) and explain why these roles are becoming more critical as AI becomes integrated into business operations.
3. In your opinion, does the integration of AI change where IT “fits” within the broader structure of a modern organization?

The document emphasizes that understanding AI tools is becoming essential for future professionals, since AI is no longer something separate from everyday work it is used within work.  This suggests that professionals will need to understand AI the same way a mechanic understands his wrench, for example knowing how to use it effectively, troubleshoot it, and recognize when it is not working correctly. This will help workers stay competitive as AI continues to reshape tasks, decision-making, and communication across organizations.

The “Data Management” responsibilities discussed in the text include data governance, modeling, maintenance, security, privacy, retrieval, utilization, and regulatory compliance. These roles are becoming more critical as AI is integrated into business operations because AI systems depend heavily on large amounts of accurate, well-managed data to function properly. If data is poorly organized or not protected, AI outputs can become unreliable or even harmful. As databases become more connected to cybersecurity functions, protecting employee and customer information becomes even more important, especially as human system become advanced show casing more weaknesses. 

In my opinion, AI definitely changes where IT fits within a modern organization. IT is no longer just behind the scenes, it is the big picture because it now directly impacts decision-making, security, and daily operations. However, I don’t think it makes IT less important or easily replaceable; instead, it makes it more central because if one part of the system fails, it can expose the entire organization’s data and structure to risk. Overall, this topic is interesting to think about since we are actively living through it and having classes about this makes the anticipation for what is going to happen scary. 

Discussion Board Cybersecurity

Based on the reading (Understanding CyberSec & Privacy Best Practices), explain why cybersecurity and privacy best practices are not just technical issues. Choose one example from your own experience, work environment, or a real-world scenario where people or processes played a role in improving or weakening security.

Cybersecurity and privacy best practices are not just technical issues because a lot of security depends on human behavior, decision-making, and how quickly people respond to threats, not just software or systems.

In my own experience, I had an issue where a transaction attempt of $500 was made through Temu without my approval. In this situation, the “human and process” side of cybersecurity played a major role in protecting me. Capital One immediately detected the suspicious activity, froze my card, and issued me a new one within two days. This shows that strong cybersecurity is not only about technology catching fraud, but also about how well companies respond to potential threats and protect customers through fast communication and decision-making processes.