There is a lot happening in the world of CISO's in 2019, with new and exciting advances in technology rolling out all the time.
With new technology, tighter budgets and a more involved board or senior management team, CISO's are now confronted with a multitude of concerns that can take up valuable time. With that in mind, we’re outlined six of the biggest concerns, along with some solutions to help counter these issues.
1. Cyber Security
This is a big, overarching theme for most, if not all CISO's in 2019.
Hackers are getting more and more sophisticated in their attacks and data is one of the most valuable assets your business has. If you’re not worried about cyber security you either have a fantastic strategy in place to counter any perceived threats, or you’re going to start worrying about it soon.
Cyber security is something that is now seen as a priority at board level in many organisations, which is a fantastic opportunity to educate your business leaders about how you plan on ensuring their security now and into the future.
2. GDPR/Notifiable Data Breach scheme
In 2018, both Australia’s Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme and the EU’s Global Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came into effect.
While there have been a number of public notifications on the NDB front, the impact of the GDPR is yet to be felt by most businesses. This has given a lot of Australian businesses a false sense of security, given the seriousness of the fines (up to 4% of global revenue) if they are found to be in breach.
Although the regulations allow the right for EU residents to be forgotten, this is not an issue that is isolated to businesses within the region. If you have data or customers that are located in the EU (even temporarily), we urge you to start planning your GDPR approach now, so that you’re appropriately covered.
3. IoT and IIoT
Increasingly, IoT and its industrial counterpart IIoT are becoming part of the mechanics of many businesses, especially those that have (or are) undertaken a digital transformation.
With improvements in technology come risks to security, particularly in the world of IoT where cloud services and smart devices are vital components. Understanding the risks and countering them with a robust cyber security program will allow your business to take advantage of emerging technology, secure in the knowledge that you’re protected from attacks.
4. Staffing
Its one thing to have a good plan in place, but it’s another to have the right team supporting you. Being secure in your team’s abilities will allow you to make recommendations knowing that they’ll be properly implemented. This is vital when it comes to requesting your next security budget. Having a healthy workplace culture also has an immense impact on team morale and can give organisations a huge advantage over others.
5. Emerging technologies
As we are all well aware, technology is advancing at a rapid rate. Keeping up to date with emerging technologies not only allows your business to stay competitive, it also protects it from harmful cyber attacks that can have a devastating impact. We have written a few articles about AI, cloud and quantum computing which can explain in detail about their impact in current business environments.
6. Reporting to the board or senior management team
Long gone are the days when CISO's were just ‘the tech guy’, now you need to be ‘the tech guy with solid influencing and leadership skills’. With so much scrutiny on budgets, it’s important to be able to show the value of the work that you and your team do and how it will positively impact the business.
Even if your team is small, there are many ways to execute on your strategic plan. Outsourcing some or all of your cyber security requirements to a business like The Missing Link will allow you to exceed your goals, while taking the day-to-day pressure of you, so that you can continue to influence and lead.
At The Missing Link, we’re always here to help make your life easier. Contact us today to get started.
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