How can we support CISOs better?

The role of chief information security officer is among the most important in any firm. CISOs shoulder a heavy burden, with responsibility for protecting their company’s data, infrastructure, and associated assets.

As the tech stack has grown, so too has the pressure on those in the role. CISOs have to shepherd technologies including machine learning, artificial intelligence, and edge computing.

Gartner predicts that nearly half of all IT leaders could leave their roles by 2025, and CISOs are subject to the same talent shortages as the rest of the sector amidst a constant need to maintain oversight of a growing IT estate.

In this episode, Jane is joined by Andrew Rose, resident CISO for EMEA at Proofpoint, to expand on how to be an effective CISO, and how the role is changing.

Highlights

“Most organizations haven't got that perspective on it, they just expect the CISO to do their job, and to protect the organization and take on all these accountabilities and responsibilities, to just get it done. Unfortunately that means that they're often working over weekends, they're working late nights, they're preparing for that Monday morning board meeting on a Sunday, not paying attention to their family, not getting the opportunity to recharge.”

“The role is about change constantly, and if you're uncomfortable with change then the CISO job is probably not for you. Because everything changes all the time, the technologies change, the strategy of your organization will change, the threat landscape will change, the technologies available to solve things changes, everything changes every day.”

“Every organization needs a CISO. And some of those CISOs will be capital ‘C’ CISOs, who sit on the board and help strategically deliver critical national infrastructure. And some of them will be small CISOs, who work in an IT department, helping keep a factory in Manchester running.”

Footnotes

• Work-related stress “keeps cyber security professionals awake at night”
• CISO job description: What does a CISO do?
• Gartner: Nearly half of cyber leaders to leave roles over mounting stress
• Fighting the ‘always on’ culture that’s savaging mental health in cyber security
• Gartner urges CISOs to adopt new forms of trust and risk management for AI
• What is ransomware?
• What is business email compromise (BEC)?
• 96% of CISOs without necessary support to maintain cyber security
• Six generative AI cyber security threats and how to mitigate them

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