HRG's Head of Information Security says businesses should prepare for Google Glass

Enterprises should prepare for the introduction of Google Glass within the business, according to the heads of security at insurance firm AXA and the Home Retail Group.

Lee Barney, head of information security at the Home Retail Group, the parent company of Homebase and Argos, told delegates at a panel session today (29/04/2014) at Infosecurity Europe 2014 that the security team should be innovating just like any other department within the business.

"We are part of the business, and like any part we should be expected to innovate, whether the value you're bringing is of money or reducing time or adding customers," he said.

Barney suggested that companies should prepare for new technologies, so that when they are released they can quickly be integrated into the business.

"When or before Google Glass comes out maybe security professionals should look at how we can integrate it and where it can add value within the business. They shouldn't try to champion it on their own, but they should take it to people who can run with it, and then if it actually happens you can say security helped us to do that," he stated.

The head of security at insurance firm AXA UK, Michael Colao, agreed with Barney. He stated that Google visited AXA and showcased Google Glass to the insurance firm and explained how the technology could be best used within the insurance industry.

The problem, Colao explained, was that senior management figures saw Google Glass, but senior IT employees were not in the discussion. Despite this, he believes they should have already been looking at the technology.

"The senior IT people hadn't looked at it, seen it or considered it. This is fine for Google because they don't want to pitch to security professionals, they want to pitch to CEOs, but [for the company] the security professionals should know about it," he said.

Colao believes that the security team should be prepared for business innovations, so for example, if a business wants to move to the cloud, the security team can tell them what the risks are and how to go about implementing the technology.

Source : Sooraj Shah - Computing.co.uk
www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2342140/infosecurity-europe-2014-businesses-should-prepare-for-google-glass-say-security-chiefs#