FINAL WORD

In 2023 , the charges against Joseph Sullivan , Uber and Timothy G . Brown , SolarWinds set a new precedent for corporate responsibility on matters of cybersecurity . Both landmark cases exemplified the consequences of inaction on new cyber mandates like the Securities and Exchange Commission , SEC regulations , Biden Administration Executive Order and NIS2 Directive , among other global measures .

The stakes have never been higher for CISOs to foster seamless cross-functional alignment on cyber risk mitigation and compliance across their C-suite and Board . If not , they potentially can be held liable for it . Except as we have encountered time after time , generating collective buy-in amongst stakeholders with varying priorities and business objectives is far easier said than done .

Evolving threat actor tactics , techniques , and procedures , leveraging new nextgeneration technologies have enhanced the sophistication of traditional cyberattacks – increasing urgency for CISOs to implement resilient cyber defence strategies .

However , an experience shortage driven by understaffing and evolving skill requirements is making that difficult to accomplish . There are more than 4 million unfilled security jobs in the world today , and research indicates that most security professionals believe the skills shortage ’ s impact has worsened over the past two years .

Burnout is real

This perfect storm of complexity is hindering CISOs ’ health , well-being , and career stability . For example , a 2023 CISO stress study conducted by Cynet found that :

• 94 % of CISOs said that they were stressed at work

A transformational CISO is adept at articulating the correlation between cyber and business risk in terms that resonate across the organisation .

• 65 % expressed that their stress compromised their ability to protect their organisation

• 74 % left their jobs in 2022 due to workrelated stress

• 77 % said that their work stress impacted their physical health

This often translates into burnout that leads to CISO turnover and volatility . While the current CISO turnover rate sits at about 18 % YoY , Gartner forecasts that as many as half of security leaders will change jobs by 2025 , with about a quarter of them moving to different roles entirely due to workrelated stress .

That is an unfortunate reality of our situation at hand , but it does not need to be all doom and gloom moving forward . Light still exists at the end of this tunnel . By adopting a transformational leadership approach , CISOs can take proactive steps to protect their organisation , and themselves from the ripple effects of an accelerating threat landscape .

Connecting cyber and business risk

Modern CISOs must be more than just pure technologists . It is critical to serve as a transformational provider of influence that effectively aligns an organisation ’ s security needs with other high-priority functions of the enterprise . A transformational CISO is adept at leveraging enterprise risk strategies to articulate the correlation between cyber and business risk in terms that resonate across the organisation .

This allows them to effectively articulate the severe consequences of successful attacks , regulatory non-compliance , and the business benefits of modern security capabilities , in turn justifying the importance of ample security resources , frameworks , and cross-functional collaboration in the eyes of executive stakeholders .

Compounded at scale , securing buyin across those facets enables CISOs to implement resilient security strategies around high-value assets to safeguard the organisation from major breaches that result in legal liability . It also helps cultivate a culture of security vigilance built on communication and collaboration amongst organisational leaders .

Covering those bases is worth its weight in gold when it comes to reducing anxiety associated with the CISO role . While new obstacles will always exist on the horizon , having robust resources and contingency plans in place helps ensure you can navigate them with agility .

Head coach

The transformational CISO role resembles that of a head coach in sports . Cyber defence is a team sport , and it takes a collective effort to defend an organisation ’ s attack surface from threats in high volume and velocity . The whole is better than the sum of its parts .

As such , security teams must be positioned with the right people , processes , and technologies that enable them to perform efficiently and minimise friction .

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