When it comes to cybersecurity, it’s not a question of “if” you’ll face a challenge, but rather “when.” In our whitepaper, we outline steps to effectively manage the risk.
Cybersecurity remains one of the hottest points of contention when speaking to leadership, executives and corporate boards across the globe.
New cybersecurity leads face a challenging, daunting position as their company’s board of directors – often made up of investment bankers, former C-level executives, and current leadership – has set expectations to not be the next company on the front page of the Wall Street Journal for having a major security breach.
“Are we secure?” the board asks, expecting a confident response from their new CSO. The answer to this looming question is never a straightforward “yes” or “no.” But how do you communicate that to your board?
Planning for Cybersecurity Risk
It’s complicated, complex, difficult to track, scary and expensive. It’s a taxing burden. This multifaceted problem can’t be solved by simply buying another security device. It takes a programmatic, trackable, risk-based approach. It takes time and perspective.
Stakeholders in most organizations want the peace of mind that comes with confidently knowing secure practices are in place. Unfortunately, most may not be aware of everything involved in getting there.
The problem: What is needed for a company to be “secure” varies greatly from one business to another, and no one seems to understand how to capture exactly what it is or how to manage it. Non-technical leadership is required to make business-sensitive, strategic decisions on cyber-centric matters, often lacking the knowledge to make such conclusions. Through client trials, industry perspective, and a benchmark for what “good” looks like, we’re hoping to help simplify the equation.
We commonly find that leadership is uninformed and misguided. Most frequently, we find organizations that believe cybersecurity is a “box,” such as a modern firewall or a series of boxes. Perimeter defense, universally associated with a firewall of some sort, is of critical importance.
However, while these items certainly are relevant and important to your cybersecurity program, they are a small portion of what it takes to manage your overall cyber risk. Devices are critical, but they won’t prevent your name from ending up in the newspaper for the wrong reason.
While the idea that devices are the solution to cybersecurity management remains the most common misconception, we find many organizations also have complementary programs providing a false sense of security.
To learn how to avoid falling into that false sense of security, download our white paper, “Cybersecurity Is Not a Device: Effective Approaches to Managing Cyber Risk.” We walk through what you need to bring to leadership to clarify what steps your company needs to take to manage your cybersecurity risks.
