You might have seen the acronym CISO somewhere. You might be wondering, what is CISO, and is it important? If you are concerned about cybersecurity, you need to read this one.
Most businesses around the world have a CISO. Moreover, CISOs are in high demand. How do they work with the rest of the business? Let’s find out in this article by exploring what is CISO.
What is CISO?
CISO stands for Chief Information Security Officer. It is a senior-level executive position. A CISO ensures that the organization’s information and data are secured. They are the guardians of information security.
Furthermore, CISO creates procedures and policies to secure a company’s information. To sum, they ensure that the company is protected from all cyber threats.
CISO’s Influence On the Company
Moreover, a CISO directs the company’s staff to uphold information security. Also, they respond to cyber incidents that may arise. A CISO also makes sure that the company’s security complies with ISO27K certification.
Typically, the CISO’s influence reaches the entire organization. CISOs work closely with the CIO to achieve the organization’s security aims. As a result, a company’s shareholder value may increase because it prioritizes security. CISOs take credit for that.
In fact, 89% of CISOs are regularly summoned by board directors to provide recommendations for the business.
CISO’s Responsibilities
Stephen Katz breaks down the everyday responsibilities of a CISO. Katz pioneered the CISO role at CitiGroup in the ’90s. He broke down the responsibilities into different categories:
Security operations
Analyzes security in real-time. Moreover, the CISOs respond to the cyber threat urgently.
Data loss and fraud prevention
The officer makes sure that the staff doesn’t steal or use the data wrongly.
Cyber risk and cyber intelligence
A CISO keeps himself regularly updated on developing cyber threats. Additionally, the officer helps the company board to understand potential security problems. CISOs also inform the board of whatever consequence a big business move might bring.
Identity and access management
The CISOs prevent unauthorized people from access to restricted data and systems.
Investigations and forensics
The officer investigates what went wrong in case of a breach. Moreover, the CISOs deals with the people responsible for the breach. That is if the breach is internal. Furthermore, the CISOs plans to avoid the security crisis from happening again.
What Are the Working Conditions For CISOs?
As we have mentioned earlier, a CISO holds a great amount of power in the office. However, there are strings attached. For instance, almost all CISOs work beyond their contracted hours. That amounts to extra 10 hours per week, on average.
Moreover, most CISOs feel unable to switch off. The call of duty might summon them even on important occasions. It is not unusual for them to miss important occasions like weddings and funerals.
71% of CISOs feel that there is no work-life balance in their job. It mostly leans to work. Moreover, they usually don’t take annual or sick leaves. As result, they feel more pressure and health problems.
CISO Salary
CISOs are well-paid. ZipRecruiter reports a national average of $153,117 annually. Moreover, Salary.com reports higher – between $192,000 to $254,000.
The opportunity for CISOs is also high. In fact, the unemployment rate for cybersecurity professionals is 0%! According to CyberSecurity Ventures, there will be 3.1 million job openings for cybersecurity professionals by 2021.
Want to know more about what is CISO? Check this video out.
