Why did your organization become a StateRAMP member?
As we migrate to our cloud model we want to be in line with federal and state standards.
What advice do you have for other providers progressing through the StateRAMP process?
Don’t delay the process by thinking you’re not ready to start it. Give yourself time and prioritize what you already have in place first. You can always build and improve using those controls as a starting point. Setting time aside to dedicate to your StateRAMP process will make your overall experience much more manageable. Don’t try to take on everything all at once.
How do you stay up to date with the evolving cybersecurity landscape?
It’s helped us organize and plan improvements to our internal structure. We are able to prioritize the lower hanging and easily achievable things while we work towards the harder, more complicated pieces to implement into our company’s processes in a way that is sustainable and makes sense.
Please share any specific challenges or lessons learned from your StateRAMP journey.
Being a small company, it can be challenging to see where we would fit with some of the stricter requirements that you would find in a larger organization. We are having to think outside the box and come up with our own solutions/versions of what those requirements would look like for us, and making sure we adapt it to fit and satisfy the StateRAMP requirements.
What cybersecurity-related events, conferences, or webinars do you recommend for industry professionals?
There are many conferences in Texas alone. The RSA conference and the NICE conference are some big ones to attend. There’s also Black Hat in Vegas if anyone is feeling more adventurous.
How can other members or organizations collaborate with your company on cybersecurity projects?
We are always open to meeting other members of the InfoSec community and discussing different experiences and ideas, usually over lunch. We are reachable on our form or via our website (Scinary.com), one of the members of our management team usually responds personally.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the StateRAMP community or the broader cybersecurity community?
Don’t let the process consume and overwhelm you. Take it one step at a time and remember it’s about progressing and strengthening your posture to better serve the community.
