The New CISO

Taking The Jump From Consulting & Advice To A Younger Self With consulting you have the opportunity to work with multiple large companies, which can be an attractive aspect of the job. Working with multiple companies on that scale can introduce you to the latest technology and how it works differently for different companies. That being said, if you want to build a team from the ground up a transi...

Building A Relationship With Other Teams The sooner these relationships can be built, the better. Meeting top executives and other team leads during a crisis is less than ideal. Get to know the people that are closer to the consumer, the writers, the social media managers, the sooner this relationship is established the better the partnership is when you need to come together in a crisis. Building...

Building Up To A Position Of Power Holding the dual position of CTO/CISO needs to come with a lot of experience and drive. Being able to build the security organization around the needs of the company led to being both the Chief Technology Officer as well as Chief Information Security Officer. Noticing what was interfering with the safety of the company through passive observation has directly pla...

Transitioning Into The CISO Role Learning to balance the executive role with the tactical needs of the team can be tricky to balance. Being able to see to the larger picture within both roles can keep you on track and relevant within both places. Remember the roles you’ve had in the past and draw from those experiences and knowledge. Audits are typically not something anyone wants to have on their...

The Day You Lose Your Job Losing your job to many can come as a complete shock, maybe even more so when you’re in a position of power such as an executive role.  There are many extra steps when leaving a security executive position, sometimes you have to hand over your phone, computer, tablets for security purposes, and if you used this for personal use as well, you could lose a lot of valuable fi...

Initial Worries & New Challenges Going from consulting into a leadership position requires you to take on a new level of responsibility. You take that leap of having more permanence in the position but also now having to lead a team of other security professionals. Olivia also was in the unique position of not only being a new CISO but also the first CISO at MailChimp. This unique position came wi...

Advice To A Younger Self, Before Becoming A CISO Perfectionism can hinder the natural learning experience. As someone fresh in their career it can be hard to not want to be perfect, there are expectations to be met. Yet making mistakes and learning from them is real job experience. Don’t be afraid to take risks and fail, you’ll learn from your mistakes. Being new in your career can feel isolating,...

Transitioning Into CISO And The Initial Challenges Becoming the head of any department, and having all that responsibility on you can be very intimidating at first. Going from more behind the scenes to front and center can be uncomfortable, but reflect back on all your experience and let that guide your decision-making. Delegation is important in leadership roles, so get the team together and put...

  Identifying Burnout In The Workplace Burnout is a common occurrence in any industry, but especially among those looking to carve out their place in the industry. No one works well when they aren’t at their best, identifying burnout early on can stop it in its tracks. If you’re noticing someone is acting out of character or being short, they may be experiencing burnout. Another tell can be the ho...

Marketing In Relation To Security Marketing is all about getting a certain message to the right audience. A background in this field can be a great way to transition into other positions including the CISO. Being able to take a look at the bigger picture and then funnel that picture down to solve the problem at hand can be aided with a marketing approach.    Advice To Those Just Starting Out  Bein...

The Slow Evolution Of The CISO The role of the CISO is changing but maybe not at the preferable speed. The role has been changing throughout the existence of the CISO from a small technical role to an IT position, to a role that is more demanding than ever. It is becoming a much more executive role than in the past.    Connecting The Changing CISO Position To The Business Needs To understand the b...

Partnering with Higher Education to Prepare Students for a Career in Cybersecurity Being associated with an advisory committee gives you a lot of freedom to really create the programs a future CISO needs to be hirable right out of school. The committee is able to see what classes need to be added to the curriculum, or if more classes aren’t plausible seminars are always an option. By being part of...

Moving From Consultant to CISO  As a consultant you gain a lot of work experience very quickly, because you are working with a lot of clients on many issues. Seeing the transition from consultant to CISO is fairly common. As a consultant you don’t get to see the changes you’ve made grow over time, you only see the short-term effects and move on. If the decision is made to leave consulting and sign...

The Basics Of Being A Global CISO  The various pillars include security, which is, operations, corporate, product, customer, production, and automation.  It also includes compliance, undergoing audits and certifications throughout each year. You need to maintain trust between platforms, products, and customers. Quality management, data protection, privacy principals, customer advocacy, risk and as...

Securing a Cybersecurity Organization Chief Information Security Officer of Netskope, Lamont Orange, talks with Steve Moore about the unique differences between working as a CISO for a private company versus doing it on the vendor side of things; securing a cyber security organization.  As cyber security becomes entrenched in the business cycle, other business functions have expanded their interac...

Understanding the Adversary Mick Jenkins, Chief Information Security Officer at Brunel University & a former Counter Terrorism officer in the British Armed Forces speaks with Steve Moore about the ideological similarities between defending against terrorists versus cyber criminals, the benefits of mentorship throughout your career in security, and the re-emergence of Soviet era espionage technique...

Contributing to the Cybersecurity Community Scott Morris, Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer at BlueCross BlueShield Western New York sits down to talk to Steve Moore about how to be active on cybersecurity communities. They  talk about how to encourage young security professionals to find their voice, and the importance of sharing information as a means of strengthening the indust...

Does Security Training Really Work? David Tyburski, Chief Information Security Officer at Wynn Resort sits down to talk to Steve Moore about security training, specifically phishing training. He shares his thoughts on the idea of training vs education, positive vs negative reinforcement, and offers suggestions for engaging with employees.   David Tyburski’s Current Role I'm currently the global CI...

Building an Effective Relationship with a Board Colin Anderson, Chief Information Security Officer at Levi Strauss & Co sits down with Steve Moore to talk about interacting and building an effective relationship with an organization’s board, managing expectations and sharing narratives that resonate, the makeup of a board meeting, and the different personalities associated with it.    What the CIS...

What it Means to be an Honest Broker As a former CISO in Hanover Insurance Group, Brian Haugli shares what it means to be an honest broker in the context of security leadership, which might be better described as an agent of trust and transparency for a business.  Brian and Steve Moore talk about strategies for delivering the right message to executives and the Board, the learning opportunities th...

The Ins and Outs of Budgeting Andrew Wild, CISO at QTS Data Centers, sits down with Steve Moore to talk about IT security budgets, the challenges of prioritizing resources to balance risk and the value of cooperation.   IT Security Budget Managing an IT security budget isn't just about spreadsheets and internal procurement processes, it's about understanding your organization's business priorities...

Lessons Learned from a Virtual CISO Matt Klein, Virtual CISO and Executive Advisor at Optiv, sits down with Steve Moore to share his insights on teamwork, getting visibility at the executive level, and the right prep for effective board conversations.   What is a Virtual CISO? Think of it as a trusted advisor, an executive advisor, talking about strategic elements of your security program, even so...