Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States approved their cyber rules on July 2023, originally proposed in March 2022 for public comments (SEC, 2022; 2023). This has sparked many conversations about how the board of directors and executive management should think about cybersecurity and to what extent public disclosures should be made about cybersecurity incidents and risks. Most notable among them is the requirement that material cyber incidents be reported within four days.

Whether it’s supporting initiative prioritization, as discussed in Part 1, or justifying budget requests, pursuing cost-effective strategies, and calculating risk appetite levels, as discussed in Part 2, CRQ has the power to transform an organization’s mindset to include cybersecurity in strategic risk planning conversations. This transformation, known as a Shift Up strategy toward cyber management, has become more critical than ever as cyber threats evolve.

Conducting business, no matter in which industry, is innately risky. Historically, some of the primary drivers of this business risk included natural disasters, hardware and inventory theft, legal and compliance regulations, and economic downturns. However, in the midst of the digital age, cyber threats loom as one of the most prominent forms of organizational uncertainty, housing the potential to cause trillions of dollars in damages.

Pursuing a cybersecurity initiative takes more than a simple decision made by an organization’s chief information security officer (CISO). It requires resources, time, and, most crucially, buy-in from an organization’s key stakeholders, such as C-suite executives and board members. But trying to persuade the budget approvers while speaking in the technical language of cybersecurity can be off-putting. ‍

Organizational leaders have generally viewed cybersecurity as a costly yet essential business function and recognize that Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and other cyber leaders make strategic decisions to safeguard the company's digital assets. Still, until recently, these higher-level executives have never sought to make sense of the technical cyber activities in a broader business context, believing their value to be too complex to discern. ‍

My journey to finding Kovrr had been packed with headaches and puzzles that many CISOs still face today. Within a few short years of being the CISO at Avid, a content-creation software provider, I managed to implement tighter security controls and develop a framework that enabled objective progress measurement. ‍ However, I constantly faced an impasse when attempting to communicate these achievements with the board.

In the cyber age, data has become nearly as valuable as oil. While this market shift offers many new learning and growth opportunities for professionals across industries, the immeasurable amount of data is often quite overwhelming to non-analysts, leaving them feeling more lost than when they began their inquiries. ‍ This situation often rings true for cybersecurity leaders tasked with protecting an organization's digital assets against attacks and increasingly malicious actors.

In response to the growing number of malicious actors that have managed to exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities and cause irreparable damage to organizations, governments worldwide have decided to intervene, recognizing a need for a systematic approach to safeguarding national assets. Helping to lead the way in this institutionalized effort is the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). ‍

During my first few years as a CISO at Avid Technology, I was able to install a robust cybersecurity program. (Avid is a software provider that equips digital content creators with innovative tools.) With the help of my security team, Avid had become more mature in their control measures. This maturity meant we were better armed to address cyber vulnerabilities. ‍ Unfortunately, on top of my regular duties, I also had to face an even greater challenge.

‍ As one of the youngest global industries, cybersecurity presents many challenges. It's a complex sector with many components to master. Security leaders find fortifying an organization's security measures tough. This obstacle is made even greater by the quickly evolving threat landscape. Another tricky hurdle is communicating and justifying their actions to the boardroom. ‍