The role of chief information security officer (CISO), is key to the secure and seamless operation of any large enterprise. However, over the past few years, the scope and scale of this role has shifted dramatically. Where once CISO’s were tasked with simply heading up cyber security efforts, today they are charged with a far wider range of solutions and defences - and ones which lie outside the company’s perimeter.
The global COVID-19 pandemic saw the traditional bricks-and-mortar office change almost overnight. In a near mass exodus, workers were sent to work from home, increasing the attack surface dramatically, as a slew of personal devices, applications, and connections suddenly needed protecting. This is why CISOs today, need to not only secure information on-prem, but in the cloud, and have to look after assets and staff members who are working from a home, coffee shops, or satellite offices. After all, remote, or at least hybrid, working is here to stay.
And while this will bring greater flexibility to workers, but it also adds a lot more complexity, which can weaken security and endanger the business. It also makes the CISO’s role more far-reaching and difficult too. Cyber security itself needs to become more agile.
Unfortunately for security heads, these changes also happened at a time when the threats faced by today’s enterprises were compounded by an increasingly digital business environment. This digital-first environment means that businesses need to be more agile, nimble, and able to respond to shifting consumer demands. They need to be innovative, and adopt new technologies in order to bring products to market faster, and take up new opportunities. However, all of this needs to be secured, placing a lot of additional burden onto the CISO’s shoulders.
On the positive side, as the role of the CISO becomes more complex, and the closer he or she works with the business to understand the strategy, the more the CISO can play an active role in the company’s strategic development in a way that was not a possibility when the job was simply securing the business data.
It’s the nature of the beast that the more diverse and more complex technology is, the more risks it brings. The attack surface is broader, and bad actors are always looking for ways to exploit remote workforces.
The bottom line? The CISO’s job is bigger than ever, as technology touches every part of the business, and all of its users. How can the CISO define his or her new role? Cyber security is still key, and will always remain so, but the last few years have fuelled a shift from securing systems and perimeters, to continual monitoring, and securing transactions and identities themselves.
It’s easy to see why today’s CISOs are in danger of burning out, and with this in mind, itrainsec is holding training aimed at helping cybersecurity professionals take a more mindful approach to how they live their lives in order to survive modern-day demands in a post-pandemic and hyper-connected world. While many roles have shrunk, security teams are under more pressure than ever, and need to take the time to ensure their own wellbeing if they are to be effective for their organisations.
Taking a more mindful approach to how we live our lives has become an essential part of surviving modern day demands in a post-pandemic and hyper-connected world. Cyber Security professionals are no exception – during a time in modern history when many businesses and functions have floundered, cyber security teams continue to face more pressure than ever as the corporate world fluctuates between dispersed, hybrid and office based working combined with an equally challenging set of cyber threats attempting to exploit human-shaped vulnerabilities.
Demand for the cyber security expert’s skill set is higher than ever, meanwhile, digital fatigue is pushing us closer to burnout. Ditching the tech is not an option – instead, join this two-day virtual retreat for the opportunity to reset, refuel, and rediscover how it feels to function at peak performance.