Cyber Insiders-v8-web - Flipbook - Page 11
OF THE CISO
w ith an M BA background m ay be betterequipped
forthe role.The sam e can be said ofcom m unicating
to em ployees and even the w iderpublic.W ithin the
com pany,C ISO s m ustcham pion the com pany’s
security culture and em pow erem ployees to ow n their
responsibility w ithin it.Equally,they are becom ing the
face ofconsum ertrust.
W hethera consum erand/orbusiness partnertrusts
a com pany to protecttheirdata is progressively a
key factorin purchasing orpartnership decisions.
According to a reportby Edelm an Trust,over80% of
consum ers highlighttrustam ong the m ostim portant
factors in theirbuying decisions.Therefore,C ISO s are
having to both,ensure the com pany is w ell-protected
and m eeting com pliance requirem ents,as w ellas
instilthis confidence in custom ers and partners.
Itis im portantto note here thatthe value the m odern
C ISO brings to the com pany m oves beyond its
technicalfunction as they becom e pivotalin driving
grow th.Therefore,reinforcing the need forthem to
have greaterinfluence from w ithin the C -Suite;akin
to the C O O and C FO .
The Mentor and Recruiter
As m any ofus in the industry are aw are,w e face
a significantskills shortage.In a reportpublished
by (ISC )²
,there is a globalcybersecurity w orkforce
gap of3.4 m illion people w ith 70% oforganisations
believing they do nothave enough cybersecurity
staffto be effective.This too has given rise to
heightened m entalhealth challenges as security
C YBER IN SID ERS M AG AZIN E - Vol.2
team s face burnout.As such,m entorship and
coaching are creeping into the job descriptions of
C ISO s – inform ally atleast.
Alongside theireveryday job,C ISO s today m usthave
the interpersonalskills to recognise w hen a m em ber
ofthe team needs supportas w ellas the ability to
train and guide aspiring cybersecurity professionals
through theircareerjourney.Som e are even beginning
to leave theirLinkedIn inboxes open to answ er
questions from prospective recruits and are taking
the tim e sellthe job during industry conferences.
The Liaison
Lastbutnotleast,is the new role thatC ISO s play as
‘liaison’betw een the com pany and its third-party
partners.The vastm ajority ofourdata and business
processes are now being held outside the confines
ofan organisation.M ore often than not,itis held in
the cloud orthrough SaaS applications.This m eans
C ISO s have to step up to build rapportw ith their
partners and ensure security standards are m et.
Allin all,itis clearthatthe job scope ofthe m odern
C ISO has broadened.They are being asked to adopt
a m ore holistic approach,to have interpersonal
skills,effectively com m unicate,collaborate and
integrate them selves into business strategy.The C ISO
has certainly com e a long w ay from being a purely
technology role.
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