1. W
henunidenti-
fied hackers
broke into
a computer
network at the Sands casino in
Las Vegas in February of 2014,
insiders and experts assumed
it was a large-scale but routine
heist. More than a year later,
director of national intelli-
gence James Clapper pinned
the blame on Iran, citing the
foreign government’s anger
regarding anti-Iranian com-
ments made by Sands owner
Sheldon Adelson.
In November of 2014,
North Korea hacked Sony
Pictures with malware, later
leaking personal emails and
unreleased movies online.
When a North Korean group
threatened widespread vio-
lence at Sony’s premiere of
The Interview, many theaters
canceled screenings, and
Sony canceled its theatrical
release (the film later debuted
on streaming platforms and
screened in some theaters).
President Obama called Sony’s
response a “mistake.”
The questions in the cy-
bersecurity and IT world then
became:Whyhaveforeigngov-
ernments turned their atten-
tion to privately owned and
publicly traded companies?
CYBERSECURITY
The New Cyber Threats and
How to Stay One Step Ahead
ITSource Technology’s Brian Arellanes
makes it his business to outpace cyber
crime—when threats get as big as foreign
nationals attacking US companies,
Arellanes knows how to stay cool under
pressure, racing to help his clients respond
by Zach Baliva
ITSOURCE TECHNOLOGY
HEADQUARTERED: San Rafael, CA
FOUNDED: 2006
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 51-200
ABOUT: ITSource Technology is a
management consulting firm focused
on technologies that solve critical
needs and provide quick ROI.
BRIAN ARELLANES
Founder and CEO
ITSource Technology
SEPT/OCT 2015 | VOL 08 | NO
35

2. on the pulse
2006
ITSource technology is founded. The same year, ITSource
incorporates and memorializes Master Services Agreements
(MSA) with banking giant Wells Fargo, world-leading
biosciences company Becton Dickinson (BD), and world-
leading defense contractor Northrop Grumman
2008
ITSource wins a multi-million dollar R&D contract to develop
hardware and software for Medical Devices
With Northrop Grumman, ITSource wins a multi-million
dollar PO for IT Operations, cybersecurity, and application
development on a $1 billion contract
2011
ITSource forms a partnership with the support of HP to work
on the successful Go-live of $245 million CA Statewide Prison
Case Management System.
2013
ITSource receives the 2013 Marin Count “Be the Dream”
Award for community and diversity leadership in honor of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision for equality.
ITSource is contracted to support Raley’s Grocery Chain, a
multi-billion dollar top-ranked retailer for cybersecurity, IT
Operations, development support
2014
ITSource is ranked #29 on the HispanicBusiness Fastest
Growing 100
2015
CEO Brian Arellanes receives 2015 Hispanic IT Executive
Council (HITEC)’s “HITEC 100” Award for being one of the top
100 most influential Hispanic leaders in technology
Arellanes sits on several cybersecurity panels for the Hispanic
IT Executive Council, the Mocana360 event, and for PG&E
What role should the White
House have in mediation and
defense? Could a foreign gov-
ernment attack the United
States based on private enter-
prise?
Brian Arellanes, a cy-
bersecurity expert, is hop-
ing to help provide answers.
The founder and CEO of IT-
Source Technology works
with high-profile companies
and major government agen-
cies, using encryption, pro-
cesses, and other techniques
to secure their environments.
After 9/11, Arellanes con-
sulted for the Department of
Homeland Security for what
became the largest hiring ef-
fort in the country’s history.
He was responsible for hiring
and training security profes-
sionals in the national rollout
of explosive detection systems
and technology.
Arellanes says a lot has
changed in the last few years.
“We’re no longer scared of
a hacker in his mom’s base-
ment. The bigger threats are
countries or nation states that
are actually trying to attack
private companies. These are
scarier because countries with
deep pockets and resources
are now attacking us, which
means our nation’s economy
is at risk,” he explains.
Historically, when na-
tions engaged in cyber attacks
against other nations, private
citizens and companies had
been able to trust their gov-
ernment to intervene. But in
this new reality, where na-
tions rise against corpora-
tions, the rules have yet to be
written. The Obama admin-
istration increased sanctions
against North Korea for its role
in the Sony Hack. Arellanes—
who recently sat on an indus-
try panel with the FBI’s squad
leader for cybersecurity—says
the United States will have to
determine what’s considered
an act of war and then draft
guidelines and regulations to
govern its response.
This new breed of hacker
has a specific motivation. “Not
only can they get the person-
ally identifiable information
that we’re concerned about,
but they could get trade secrets
and intellectual property that
could cripple our economy,”
Arellanes says. Countries
have attacked industrial and
engineering companies in an
effort to compete with Amer-
ican companies or simply
produce their own products
to avoid purchasing them di-
rectly. Additionally, accord-
ing to Arellanes, some foreign
governments sponsor indus-
try. “Those governments stand
to profit while weakening the
US economy at the same time,”
he explains. But while the gov-
ernment has strong defenses
in place, corporations general-
ly haven’t yet had to withstand
cyber attacks, and therefore do
not have that level of security.
The modern solutions IT-
Source recommends to cor-
porations at risk include tools
that encrypt and protect
data before a breach occurs
so attackers walk away with
fool’s gold instead of gold.
A Través de los Años
ITSource Technology from startup to
Cybersecurity authority
Brian Arellanes (right) joins (left to right) Bob West, Alberto Yepez, and Myrna Soto on a panel discussing the changing cyber
threat landscape at the 2015 Q1 HITEC Executive Summit.
SEPT | OCT 2015 HISPANICEXECUTIVE.COM

3. on the pulse
Cyber Threat Report 2015
Source: www.heimdalsecurity.com/enww
$38.5
billion
170
days
$12.7
million
600
thousand
1/10
users
176%
increaseThe most expensive
computer virus of all time
Average time to detect a
malicious or criminal attack
Average annualized cost of
cyber crime in the US
Facebook accounts are
compromised every single day
of social media accounts say
they’ve been hacked
since 2010 in the number of
cyber attacks with an average of
138 successful attacks per week
SEPT | OCT 2015 HISPANICEXECUTIVE.COM

4. The company has partnered
with industry leaders like HP,
whose Voltage security pro-
cess randomizes information
so hackers don’t realize they
have false information.
Because ITSource Tech-
nology helps Fortune 100 lev-
el clients, the company weaves
security into everything it
does including app develop-
ment, taking every possible
step to secure the way it con-
ducts business. “The reality
of the industry today is that
we have to protect others and
ourselves, both at work and at
home,” Arellanes says, adding
that he enrolled in ID protec-
tion services after discover-
ing his own information was
compromised in the Anthem
attack.
While the Anthem attack
and others have made head-
lines, Arellanes knows that
behind every newsworthy
attack lie hundreds or even
thousands of other attacks
that fly under the radar. “In
addition to detecting and pre-
venting attacks for our cli-
ents, we have to raise aware-
ness around the importance
of protecting data,” he says.
While most companies are in-
creasing IT budgets by 20 per-
cent to address rising threats,
Arellanes expects that number
to jump as high as 40 percent
in the next one to three years.
With the potential increase,
he’s using his experience
and influence to encourage
young Hispanics to consid-
er the huge opportunities in
While most companies are
increasing IT budgets by 20 percent
to address rising threats, Arellanes
expects that number to jump as
high as 40 percent in the next one to
three years.
In 2015, Brian Arellanes was named one of the Hispanic IT Executive Council’s “HITEC 100.” Arellanes (center) celebrates with
HITEC chairman of the board Alberto Yepez (left) and HITEC president Andre Arbelaez (right).
the talent-poor sector of IT
Security.
Although US companies
are more protected than this
time last year, there is a long
way to go. The world is be-
coming more connected as it
moves towards the inevitable
“Internet of things,” in which
every device and every com-
puter and every car and every
gadget is in a network, con-
nected online all the time.
“That will open up huge
holes,” Arellanes says, “and
we’ve got to stay one step
ahead.”
SEPT | OCT 2015 HISPANICEXECUTIVE.COM