Intelligent CISO Issue 40 | Page 62

BUSINESS SURVEILLANCE

WHY THE BOARD NEEDS TO GIVE THEIR CISO A SEAT AT THE TABLE

Digital Transformation offers businesses many competitive advantages and investing in it means that organisations can stay on top of their game . Galina Antova , Co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Claroty , discusses the CISO ’ s role and how they can be a key part of implementing change when it comes to communicating cyber-risks and preparing for business transformation .
f last year taught us

I anything , it ’ s that adaptability and flexibility are essential qualities for any modern business looking to succeed . Many businesses were not prepared for the current pandemic , but those who had already embraced Digital Transformation with cybersecurity baked in were ready to go remote and were able to continue doing business with minimal interruptions . Those who were not prepared are now beginning to realise not only what Digital Transformation can offer , but also why they need to pay closer attention to and prioritise cybersecurity in order to reduce overall risk . Despite this , many of them do not know where to start .

With Digital Transformation and cybersecurity becoming pillars that successful companies will build their futures on , the time has come to include CISOs on company boards .
Communicating cyber-risks
The predominant focus areas of any board are always revenue and risk . As enterprises adapt to the current state of working and initiate Digital Transformation projects , many are finding that accurately identifying risk – and then actually being able to reduce it – is exceedingly complex . What ’ s more , we in the cybersecurity industry know that cyber-risk is not always top of the executive priority list , especially in my field of Operational Technology ( OT ). This means that board members need to be guided by expert advice on how to move forward with digital change initiatives securely – which is where CISOs come in .
Nowadays , more and more organisations are prioritising cybersecurity – for example , Cybersecurity Ventures predicted that 100 % of large corporations globally will have a CISO or equivalent position by 2021 – however , there is still work to be done . CISOs can bring so much value to board-level discussions but in order for organisations to fully reap the rewards of Digital Transformation and also ensure their business is protected , CISOs need to be given the chance to elevate the conversation around cybersecurity issues with the other major stakeholders in the business – CIOs and CDOs in particular .
Once given that chance , it is the CISO ’ s responsibility to ensure they are communicating effectively , in a way that will resonate with other board members . One way to do this is for a CISO to change their narrative to the board in order to fully represent the technology agenda in a way that leadership will understand . It is also vital the information they share relates to the wider business goals . For example , competitors are always going to be a prime concern for board members , so if a CISO was to provide insight into the
62 www . intelligentciso . com