You’re NOT fired: How a CISO can impress the board

Valente triumphed over 17 rivals during the process and will pocket £250,000 to launch his own business.

As seen on the show, a visit to the boardroom can be stressful to say the least. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. A chief information security officer (CISO) can shine by bringing new and innovative ideas in with them. Below is a collection of ideas that a CISO could suggest in 2016.

Wieland Alge, VP & GM EMEA, Barracuda Networks:

“For a CISO to make an impact in the boardroom, they should sell themselves as ‘the cloud enabler’ – both proactively supporting the usage of cloud-based applications and guiding the way to a smooth, secure migration.

“Business leaders are now well aware of the operational benefits of migrating to cloud-based applications and are eager to embrace new ways of working in a mobile, flexible and user-centric environment. While applications such as Office 365 provide a number of benefits, security concerns continue to act as barrier to their adoption. The keystone of this process will be to replace old firewalls with true next generation devices that can deliver both comprehensive, in-depth security and enhanced application performance in the cloud environment.”

Richard Beck, head of cyber security at QA:

“Every CISO is potentially one data breach away from being fired. Putting in place clearly defined plans and rules should help protect the organisation from cyber attacks. A key element of this plan should be to ensure that all staff, at whatever level, receive cyber security training – above the basic hygiene level. Why? In almost all reported security incidents, the actions – either intentional or accidental – were by staff in the compromised organisations, which led to the security breach in the first place.”

Perry Correll, principal technologist at Xirrus Networks:

“It is hard to believe that there are so few public WiFi networks capable of serving our needs outside of the home securely – particularly when you consider that as of today, nearly everyone owns a smart phone, 91 per cent use a laptop, and 80 per cent have a tablet.

“Public WiFi offers the convenience of accessibility, but typically doesn’t encrypt data, leaving passwords exposed and sensitive data vulnerable to the possibility of capture by those with malicious intentions.

“It’s bad enough worrying that while sipping a latte, cyber criminals might be trying to steal your credit card data and bank account numbers, but even more daunting to know that corporate espionage is on the rise. Public WiFi networks offer hackers little challenge when it comes to intercepting private or classified information accessed by executives who stay in hotels on business.

“Now more than ever, large and small enterprises must upgrade their networks to provide better security for their customers.”

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