COLUMBUS — “Ransomware, it just shifted the playing field, if not threw the playing board off the table,” says Kirk Herath, the new Cybersecurity Strategic Advisor for Ohio.
Kirk Herath enters his new role as Gov. Mike DeWine’s Cybersecurity Strategic Adviser with decades of experience in public service to Ohioans.
He’s worked for 32 years as the Chief Privacy Officer at Nationwide and is a Professor of Law at both Ohio State and Cleveland State Universities.
He now will help coordinate the state’s defense and mitigation against ransomware and other global threats.
“Doesn’t matter what you do as a small business, they are all susceptible to a ransomware attack today,” Herath said. “They’re just trying to shut you down and get you to pay some amount of money and it’s all done through robots, basically are just constantly going out pinging, trying to find vulnerabilities.”
Herath says to always update your operating systems, on your computer, phone and other devices, and with phishing attacks on the rise, watch out for malicious emails.
“If you get an email that’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. So don’t click on it,” Herath said. “That is a large part of your personal cyber safety.”
When it comes to the nationwide workforce, Herath says there are 500,000 open cyber security jobs and there’s always a challenge to keep and fill those positions here in Ohio.
“Today, all we’re doing is stealing each other’s talent,” he said. “The more we can create tech jobs here locally, we’re going to retain those people that we, in some cases, have subsidized to stay here.”
Herath says he accepted the Cybersecurity Strategic adviser appointment from Gov. DeWine because he has a passion for public service.
He’s been a Hilliard councilman and served in all facets of local government for 30 years.
For however long he remains in his current position, his goal is to make a lasting impact.
“I’m gonna leave an organization, or practices behind, a culture behind that is better, a culture that will continue to improve itself,” says Herath.
