Mark McLaughlin is Chairman, President and CEO of Palo Alto Networks. We caught up with him to find out what he thinks of the state of information security before his RSA Conference 2016 keynote: The (Inevitable?) Decline of the Digital Age…

RSAC: What excites you the most about working in the information security industry? 

McLaughlin: I’m excited about the progress we are making in helping organizations around the world prevent successful breaches and ensuring trust in our digital way of life. 

RSAC: What would you like to see change in the industry over the next 12 months? 

McLaughlin: I would like to see security companies agreeing to work much closer together to strengthen cybersecurity postures for all customer organizations by collaborating on initiatives like threat information sharing.

RSAC: What information security goals would you like to accomplish in the next three years? 

McLaughlin: I want to help customers move from legacy point product-based security architectures that focus on detection and incident response to next-generation platforms that are specifically built to prevent successful breaches.  

RSAC: What were you doing 25 years ago?  

McLaughlin: I was flying Cobra helicopters in the Army—essentially my first job in security.

RSAC: Explain what your session will be about at RSA Conference 2016 in three words. 

McLaughlin: Next-generation prevention platforms.