The Need for Cyber Security Education is Growing within Businesses
Cyber security is one of the hot topics in the business world with many large and reputable companies falling prey to damaging cyber attacks that compromise millions of customers’ personal data and payment information. These attacks can cost a company millions in dollars and, even worse, can negatively impact a company’s reputation and cause customers trust to diminish.
Various Challenges of CISO’s Role Communicating To Organization’s Board
When it comes to cyber security, there is a lot to understand, about how to best protect your company from this vulnerability, how to communicate about your “best practices” to your stakeholders, including your board and your customers. Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are asked and are expected to be able to communicate in a detailed way with board members about their company’s cyber security plans. In fact, a recent study from Veracode and the New York Stock Exchange indicated that 80% of company boards discuss cyber security at each and every board meeting.
While cyber security is an extremely high priority right now for board members, CISOs have the challenging job of translating rather technical and complex and security information into a message that the board can understand, appreciate and buy into. A study by Fidelis Security and the Ponemon Institute, reveals that 26% of board members admit to “minimal or no knowledge” about cybersecurity, and only 33% think that they are either “knowledgeable” or “very knowledgeable.” There also seems to be a wide disconnect between board members perception of their knowledge of the risks to the organization and the CISO’s perception of the board member’s knowledge of these risks.
Narrowing the Gap: Getting All Stakeholders On the Same Page
Cyber security risks are evolving each year and it is critical that CISO’s stay current on all potential risks to their organization. It is also important that they communicate details and data to their board members and work increase their knowledge of the risks and confidence in the solutions. TrustMAPP is a tool that a CISO can use to fill three major gaps in information security management: 1) to provide an accurate measurement of security across large enterprises; 2) to visually guide development of a strong information security framework; and 3) to communicate security to management as a justification for security investments. This information can help close the perception gap between CISOs and leadership and boards so that the focus can really be on anticipating and managing the true risk.
For more information or to request a customized demonstration about how our software can help your business, call 1-952-544-0234 or email sales@securedigitalsolutions.com.
