The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) position is currently undergoing transition, especially as risks alter and as more rules and compliance mandates are implemented. The assumptions around this formerly specialist position need to be reevaluated because it is now essential for contemporary businesses.
CISO's evolving position
In a recently published report, the executive search and leadership consultancy firm Marlin Hawk noted changes in the fundamental requirements for CISOs, increased internal hiring for cyber security positions, and declining CISO turnover rates.
"Today’s CISOs are taking up the mantle of responsibilities that have traditionally fallen solely to the CIO, which is to act as the primary gateway from the tech department into the wider business and the outside marketplace," stated managing partner at Marlin Hawk, James Larkin.
As a result, CISOs need to be proficient communicators with people at all levels of the organisation. They must be able to communicate with the board as well as the marketplace of investors and clients. The growing focus on CISO soft skills will raise standards for this position.
Role of "CISO+"
Security experts claim that the CISO role has genuinely evolved into a "CISO+" role during the past 8–10 years as a result of the large number of CISOs who have taken on engineering-related tasks, physical security-related projects, operational resiliency initiatives, brand trust building projects, and/or supply chain resilience building initiatives.
The chances for CISOs to become business enablers and higher-level transformational technology leaders have increased as a result of this. From this new vantage point, CISOs are better able to gain the respect of their executive-level peers as well as the support of the legal departments, other business departments, and other organisational divisions.
CISOs must understand that as recently appointed members of the C-suite, they are accountable for and have a stake in innovation, revenue, and growth.
Manager to leader transition
For everyone involved in an organisation's cyber security, the promotion of the CISO position to the C-suite is generally good news. CISOs must, nevertheless, show that they are eager to tackle new difficulties.
In order to generate corporate value, CISOs must now act as creative thought leaders, accomplished storytellers, and transformation architects.
Across the whole corporate value chain, the CISO must now work as a strategist, tactical master, influencer, and inspiration.
Being a change agent is one of the most crucial and challenging practises in lean management transformations. It calls for a person with a distinct vision, patience, persistence, the capability to set a good example, the ability to ask probing questions, and reliability.
CISOs may be required to spearhead highly focused, precisely targeted initiatives to comprehend risk, identify threats, and emphasise overall cyber security preparation in order to enable more business agility.
