Early April was a whirlwind of activity as security professionals from around the globe gathered for the annual security event, ISC West 2025. Nearly 29,000 industry professionals traveled to Las Vegas for the educational sessions and the expo.
I am always excited to attend these events as it provides a unique opportunity to have conversations with leaders and decision makers in the industry about what trends they are seeing or what challenges are on the horizon. A personal favorite of mine is attending the opening keynote address. This year’s event kicked off with a presentation by cybersecurity expert Rachel Wilson.
Wilson, a decorated cybersecurity professional, is currently the Director of Cybersecurity at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. She delivered a powerful keynote where she tackled the toughest cybersecurity challenges facing security leaders today, leaving attendees with valuable insights and strategies.
“I tell people all the time, cybersecurity is not about perfection,” Wilson said during the morning address. “It is really about not being the sickest gazelle in the herd. My hope is that all of you will leave here with a handful of things that you are going to do differently, at work, at home, in all of your capacities to be safer.”
Wilson, a seasoned cybersecurity expert with deep experience in both government and finance, spent 15 years at the NSA, where she held senior leadership roles in counterterrorism, cyber operations, and intelligence gathering. From 2008 to 2010, she led the agency’s counterterrorism efforts, identifying and disrupting global threats. She then served as Chief of Operations in the UK (2010 – 2012), collaborating with British intelligence to secure the 2012 Olympics. Upon returning to the U.S., Wilson led NSA’s cyber exploitation operations, overseeing thousands of high-risk intelligence missions against foreign adversaries. In 2017, Wilson became the first Head of Cybersecurity for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
“In my 25 years in the cybersecurity space, I have never seen the situation more dire than it is today and the risk environment has never been more pronounced,” Wilson said. “The situation is dire, but all is not lost, and there is much that we can and should be doing to protect ourselves.
During her keynote address, Wilson reflected on how just five years ago the vast majority of malicious cyber activity on the internet was nation states government agencies gathering intelligence on each other. And while that is still going on, it has been dwarfed by the rise of cybercriminal syndicates.
“Now, 70% of the malicious cyber traffic that we see on the internet is criminal in nature and financially motivated,” she said. “If you took all the cyber criminals in the world, and put them in one country, they would be the third largest economy the world has ever seen with $11 trillion in revenue last year alone. And these guys are not hacking you because you’re you, they are hacking you because you are vulnerable and they’re opportunistic.”
As she wrapped up her keynote address, Wilson spoke on the importance of resiliency.
“This is the brand new world we are living in in 2025 which brings us to resilience,” she said. “A lot of what we recommend in cybersecurity is not the sexy stuff, it is the stuff that is like brushing your teeth and eating your Wheaties. It’s free, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
