Ruvi Kitov is the CEO and Co-Founder of Tufin Technologies in Ramat Gan, Israel, which won the Stevie Award for Most Innovative Company of the Year in the Middle East and Africa in The 2010 International Business Awards. The entry deadline for the 2011 IBAs is June 30.
What do you think are the top Best Practices in network security?
One, always audit everything in your network twice. Every change needs to be verified and audited to insure that it stays within compliance and was designed and executed in the most effective and secure way.
Two, only allow what you need into the network. Whether it’s user access or firewall rules, the default behavior must be “deny all” and should allow only what is needed. All too often new security guys block what they don't want yet allow everything else. You'll never win this battle.
Three, secure your network management. We often neglect our network management accounts and access paths with our security devices. These accounts need to have strong passwords, and the passwords must be rotated with full audit trails on their usage.
Four, train employees on security and its implications to the company. Your employees and customers are the ones who are most at risk of circumventing your security if they don't understand why it is there. They are also the easiest targets for criminal activity.
What item of news recently caught your eye and why?
The recent hack into RSA that has had a wide security impact. Many tokens used by banks for online transactions by individual account holders are now potentially at risk as a result of this breach, and it may have an even larger potential impact than the recent Sony hacks.
If you could choose another profession, what would it be?
When I was younger I wanted to be a psychologist or a filmmaker.
What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?
Dedication, flexibility, and openness.
What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?
The worst habit at work is engaging in office politics and gossip. When your state of mind is “what’s in it for me?” your accomplishments will be mediocre, and you will ruin the atmosphere for other people working with you.
As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?
Although Tufin is doing well, we have a long way ahead of us on the path to becoming a significant vendor in the security space. I’m inspired by the brilliant people working at Tufin and by the excitement of customers whose problems we solve.
About Ruvi Kitov
Ruvi Kitov is CEO and Co-Founder of Tufin Technologies, a global provider of firewall operations management solutions. Since Tufin’s founding in 2003, Ruvi has led the company’s operations through a successful growth and product-development period, quickly gaining many of the world’s largest corporations as Tufin customers. Under Ruvi’s leadership, Tufin has attained consistent profitability, while quickly gaining recognition as an industry innovator that prioritizes customer service and reliability.
With more than 12 years of deep industry experience, Ruvi previously served in key project management and development roles at Check Point Software, where he led the design and implementation of core technologies. He graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.
About Tufin Technologies
Tufin™ is the leading provider of Security Lifecycle Management solutions that enable companies to cost-effectively manage their network security policy, comply with regulatory standards, and minimize IT risk. Tufin's award-winning products SecureTrack™ and SecureChange™ Workflow help security operations teams to manage change and perform reliable audits while dramatically reducing manual, repetitive tasks through automation. Founded in 2005 by leading firewall and business systems experts, Tufin serves more than 700 customers in industries from telecom and financial services to energy, transportation, and pharmaceuticals. Tufin partners with leading vendors including Check Point, Cisco, Juniper Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, F5, Blue Coat, McAfee, and BMC Software, and is committed to setting the gold standard for technological innovation and dedicated customer service.
For more information visit http://www.tufin.com, or follow Tufin on:
* Twitter at http://twitter.com/TufinTech
* LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/companies/tufin-technologies
* Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Tufintech
* The Tufin Blog at http://www.tufin.com/blog
* The Tufin Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Tufintech
What do you think of Ruvi's list of best practices?
