Page 208 - Cyber Defense eMagazine April 2023

Bring senior stakeholders along with you

The final piece of the puzzle when communicating cyber risk strategy is stakeholder management.
Understanding which members of the senior team have influence, directly or otherwise, over budgets
and strategy is increasingly important to CISOs.

Start with building a map of the people who the security function has a bearing on and vice versa, whether
technical or otherwise. Then, bring them in early to the decision-making process to ensure joint ownership
of any proposed strategy or initiatives. Disgruntled stakeholders, often the cause of difficult questions
and friction, are often the result of a lack of understanding about where cyber risk fits into their area of
operations. This can be avoided with clear, transparent conversations. A CISO who takes the time to
educate the right people will enjoy a far smoother path at the board level.

Ultimately, the debate around communicating with the board is not a new one for senior security leaders
and the industry has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years. Current market conditions,
however, add pressure as they intensify the need to justify resources. By collaborating with your target
audience, framing communications in business terms, and being aware of where investment can be
applied for maximum impact, CISOs are in good stead to weather the worst of it.

About the Author
Tim Fleming is a Strategic Advisor at Silverfort. Having recently retired
from Deloitte, Tim Fleming is now working as a consultant and advisor
across the areas of cyber security and CIO advisory including IT
strategies, and operations.

With extensive experience in the IT sector across many organizations
and industries, Tim brings a wealth of knowledge to assist companies
in their technology challenges in areas such as IT Strategy and
Governance, IT operations, and cyber security. Tim’s experience
would be invaluable to organizations in industries including media,
financial and professional services.

Currently, as one of Tim’s roles, he is working closely with Silverfort Inc, a cybersecurity software
provider with a unique and ground-breaking approach to identity protection and lateral movement
protection.

Tim can be reached online at (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-fleming-60651937) and at our company
website https://www.silverfort.com/.

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