Security News Roundup: CISO edition

To all of the CISOs out there, here are a few interesting articles that I’ve come across. I hope you find them useful!

FAIRINSTITUTE.ORG – Jack Jones: Quit Blaming Executives for Cybersecurity Problems
Look, the executives in any organization — especially large ones — have way more on their plates than they can ever hope to fully accomplish. They’re also invariably under huge pressure to hit various objectives for the BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) on their to-do lists…

LINKEDIN.COM – Stephen Robert Massey: Your CISO should not report to the CIO or the COO or the CFO
It’s August 2019 (where has the year gone?!) and we’re still discussing – quite regularly – where the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) should sit in an organisation. Just this morning in my newsfeed was an article with some pretty weak pros and cons as to where the CISO could report but didn’t come to any actual conclusion as to which reporting line was most appropriate…

FORBES.COM – Bob Zukis: A CEO, CIO And CISO Walk Into A Bar
The CEO of the Amazing Company says to the bartender, “I’ll have a glass of tequila.” The CIO steps up and says, “Hit me with a glass of ice.” Finally, the CISO adds, “You know what, I’ll have a glass of lime juice.” The bartender looks at them curiously as he sets their orders down on the bar…

CSOONLINE.COM – Dan Swinhoe: 7 Security Incidents that cost CISOs their jobs
CISOs can leave their job for any number of reasons, but a breach or other security incident often hastens their departure. According to Radware’s 2018 State of Web Application Security report, 23% of companies reported executive firings related to application attacks. US companies were more likely to say execs were let go after an incident, as were companies in the technology or financial services sectors…

DARKREADING.COM – Joan Goodchild: 6 Unique InfoSec Metrics CISOs should track in 2020
You might not find these measurements on a standard cybersecurity department checklist. But they can help evaluate risks you haven’t even considered yet. A regular audience with executive management and the board is part of the CISO role now. And security leaders know they need to bring measurable information to the conversation to explain and justify their performance and spending…

HELPNETSECURITY.COM – Zeljka Zorz: CISO Do’s and Dont’s, Lessons Learned
Keeping a business safe from cyber threats while allowing it to thrive is every CISO’s goal. The task is not easy: a CISO has to keep many balls in the air while being buffeted by an increasingly complex and always shifting threat landscape. Consequently, the importance of a good CISO should not be underestimated…

ZDNET.COM – Asha Barbaschow: 10 things security teams should focus on, according to AWS’ CISO Stephen Schmidt
Amazon Web Services (AWS) chief information security officer and president of security engineering Stephen Schmidt has detailed 10 things he thinks should be of the highest value to every security group…