SC Media is proud and honored to present the 2021 SC Awards – recognizing the people, products and companies that enable organizations large and small, public and private, to protect their most critical assets.
We received a record number of entries – nearly 600 across our 41 Trust, Excellence and Leadership categories. And the caliber of those entries was remarkably high, creating a challenging task for our judges. We thank them for their time and commitment.
And of course, we congratulate our winners, recognizing that such accolades could not come at a more fitting time.
Click here to access all coverage of the 2021 SC Awards.
Indeed, this year’s awards feel quite different because – clearly – this was no ordinary year. The demands placed upon both cybersecurity professionals and vendors were profound, inching on extraordinary. The world experienced a global pandemic that drove employees home en masse; supply chain attacks left government agencies and businesses of all sizes reeling; cybercriminals and enemy nation states banked on security gaps during unprecedented times, targeting home networks, health care organizations, and retailers, among many other organizations; and even the most sophisticated of technology companies found themselves victims – with products compromised, and networks infiltrated.
This all translates to opportunity for the cybersecurity companies. But it also serves as a litmus test: Which are nimble enough to handle increased demand, and which will see customer service suffer? Which will acknowledge that the landscape changed and be willing to rethink a product roadmap, and which will miss the forest through the trees?
Some of the answers to those questions will come in time, but generally speaking, vendors delivered. Similarly, practitioners across verticals got to work – recognizing their roles in ensuring their own organizations’ networks and data remained secure.
And maybe most important of all, the community at large came together to demonstrate the power of collaboration and transparency. Companies shared intel with other companies and with government agencies; organizations raised their hands when they found themselves breached, not only to adhere to notification requirements but also to alert others of the risk. I have said that events of the last year forced a bit of humility for us all; but that humility in turn led to some powerful response that we still see happening today.
I encourage you to take a look at our coverage of winners across our various categories, as well as our in depth features about the next generation of tech development and the power of relationship. And each day, check back for our Winners Circle roundtables: candid on camera conversations between the SC Media editorial team and SC Award recipients about the evolving threat landscape, emerging technologies, vendor and customer partnership, and the role of cybersecurity in business growth plans.
For all the challenges, these were inspiring times.
