What is the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) responsible for?

CISO, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), is a senior executive position in a business. This individual typically oversees security across information, cyber, and technology. Their responsibilities include developing the best security practices in these sectors, and strategies for detection, prevention, and response.

Where does a CISO fit in your organization?

As a CISO, your day-to-day duties will vary based on the needs of the business. As a reactive role, you are likely to be on call 24/7 in case of a breach or cybersecurity event. However, outside of emergency incident response, the CISO’s role largely encompasses big picture strategy in cyber security. 

As one of the most senior executives, the CISO leads high-level discussions around security, strategy, cyber risk, and effective risk management strategies. It is a role that requires constant innovation to protect against emerging threats and trending activities. The individual in this role would spend a significant portion of their time researching new techniques and technologies and speaking to other industry experts to ensure their organization uses best practices.  

The person appointed to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the CISO role work together to set the overall security vision for the organization to manage the security risk, implement new security policies and protect the business from a security incident, such as a data breach.

Challenges facing the CISO

Here are some of the common challenges that the CISO may face: 

• Preventing internal cybercrime threats with good internal controls
• Predicting future threats and trends
• Managing other employees within the security team 
• Managing data from many different sources
• Complying with new and frequently updated regulations

A recent example of a real challenge facing CISOs was the rapid move to home working during the Covid pandemic. During this time, many CISOs would have been unprepared to secure a remote workforce which resulted in the vulnerabilities of many companies being exposed.  

For example, the gift card scam was very popular during this time. Fraudsters impersonated the CEO or another high-profile executive and tasked employees with buying, for example, £500 in gift cards on the company accounts. Without any way to verify the request in their new work-from-anywhere set-up, staff were not armed with a specific prevention security strategy. So, many unsuspecting employees complied and then sent the gift card voucher codes back to the criminals, who made off with the money.  

Another example of a specific challenge facing a security professional such as the CISO is the speed of the changing regulatory landscape regarding cyber threats. No matter what industry you are in, laws and cyber regulations are likely to affect the activities of your business.

For example, the Financial Conduct Authority’s forthcoming Consumer Duty will change the way that customers access information about financial products and require the implementation of new systems that could increase third party risks. So, it is important for the CISO to constantly stay up to date and on top of regulatory change.

Regulatory change management software can help

Fortunately, staying up to date with regulatory changes does not have to feel like a race you are always losing. Plus, it does not mean constant updates to your risk assessment just to stay on the right side of the regulators. 

Regulatory change management software, like CUBE, can help you to predict what is around the corner and stay ahead of the curve.  

CUBE’s RegPlatform specifically works to filter out the irrelevant updates for your business and provide a smooth transition process for compliance. Demo CUBE to feel how the benefits can transform your role as the Chief Information Security Officer.

Contact CUBE to help you solve the challenges faced as CISO.