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troubling cybersecurity talent shortage, estimated to be as high as one million open jobs.
Organizations that recognize a need to build cybersecurity teams, and are prepared to spend
the money to do so, are struggling to find the expertise to fill those roles. And now, as data is
becoming exponentially more critical to future growth and innovation, the ante is going up again.

The trust side of the data coin

In this world where data is king, just as important as an organization’s ability to use its data is its
ability to protect it. Businesses experience value through additional or new revenue, lower costs
or faster time-to-market. Customers experience value through new or better experiences,
greater convenience and lower cost.

But in order for data to flow freely, and for companies to use that data successfully, it must be
protected, and the company must be trusted. The more individuals believe that businesses will
protect their data and use it for good, the more willing they are to provide it. The key to success
in the digital economy is trust. Lose that trust, and the impact to your business can be crippling.

Building secured business offerings creates a trusted brand. Designing and building an
architecture that is strong across the value chain ultimately creates digital trust.

This requires a shift in the approach to security, from reactive to proactive. Security is a
business issue first. This includes not only appropriate investment in technology and
architecture, but it requires starting with the mindset that security is paramount. If your security
strategy is not integrated into your business priorities and initiatives right from the start, it will not
serve the business well and will constantly struggle to keep up.

The reality is that cybersecurity is a business-wide issue and opportunity. And while the CISO is
the quarterback, cybersecurity as a core behavior needs to permeate every function and all
levels of an organization.

The CISO’s challenge

The role of the CISO is changing. What began as a technologist or compliance expert role must
now be a business leadership role first. CISOs must drive the shift in approach to cybersecurity
to ensure that valuable data remains protected.

With the rise of the cloud and the growth of shadow IT, businesses often don’t even know where
they are vulnerable, where all of their data i, and if it is being protected. As new threats to our
information security have emerged over the years, the result for most businesses has been
siloed solutions. This endless cycle of “see a vulnerability, buy a solution to address it” results in
a patchwork of products and capabilities that don’t talk to each other or coordinate any kind of
policy or response. This type of security infrastructure is complex and difficult to manage and
does nothing to help the business to keep up with the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.
Security, in this model, becomes an inhibitor, not an enabler.

42 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – April 2017 Edition
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