With cyber and phishing attacks becoming an everyday reality, and organizational data and intellectual property becoming new targets, the modern CISO must keep the end-to-end security plan intact and step into a new role of managing risks strategically. CISOs today are expected to deliver more than just managing security and protecting data and adopt a mindset, where building a culture of security is as important as remaining compliant with cybersecurity standards. In an exclusive interaction with Core Media, Pradipta Patro, Head of Cyber Security & IT Platform, RPG Group (KEC International), shares the best practices to deal with the warning signs and build resilience within the ecosystem.
- Adapting to the climate of technological change
From the security point of view, embracing new-age technology can be the CISO’s first step towards ensuring progress in the core, legacy systems of the organization. “Finding more needles in the haystack will probably require more commitment—particularly in areas such as AI, which can spot cyber threats and malicious activities. For providers, AI will force a rethinking of technology and how they bring it to market,” states a report by McKinsey.
Digitizing the security ecosystem and making data-driven decisions can lead to operational agility and behavioral awareness in the workforce. While a manual approach may seem comfortable, scaling with it can be difficult. With the right technology implemented at the right time, a CISO can reimagine the processes and gain a competitive advantage by transforming the security infrastructure.
In Patro’s opinion, “AI and other emerging technologies play a very crucial role in strengthening cybersecurity processes, making them more agile and predictive. This helps in obtaining real-time inputs proactively and reduces dependencies. As cybersecurity strategies are based on a completely risk-based approach, organizations are adopting automation intelligence to provide granular visibility in real-time with appropriate responses, enabling faster outcomes.
Awareness about cybersecurity practices and processes across the organization and implementation of the right solutions should be a part of its culture. However, a lot depends on the organization’s risk appetite and control management efficiency.”
- Drawing a reliable and resilient security strategy
Thinking holistically about the needs of the organization and making decisions based on active foresight can help CISOs plan their moves better. However, it’s not easy to do this alone. This role is expected to shape a shared understanding of what resilience means to the company management and catalyzing the right action by building a sustainable security model. To minimize and manage risk efficiently, the CISO is expected to balance between the current status quo and new opportunities, while accommodating the diverse perspectives of their peers.
“Cybersecurity strategy is aligned to the business strategy of the organization, so CISOs need to be more in sync with the long-term business objectives. Sometimes, they face budget-related constraints, and hence, their decisions should be supported by senior management.
The increasingly targeted and sophisticated cyber-attacks are making CISOs vigilant and stay up-to-date on the latest threats, and security measures & controls to manage those threats. The organization should have a better incident response management plan in place, along with a defensive approach towards protecting the organization from the threats,” he added.
- Supporting growth and talent retention while establishing process control
In Patro’s view, people, processes, and technology within the organization play a vital role in shaping the cybersecurity framework. “Due to the high adoption of digitalization and cloudification, the data is now beyond perimeters and transits from edge to cloud. In a hybrid work culture, we need to have AI/ML-driven solutions, which require skilled talent. So outsourcing security operations to third-party requires the highest governance and more-defined KPIs.”
With security and privacy concerns being elevated to the C-suite across industries, geographies, and enterprises whatever their size, both providers and investors have opportunities. There is potential for innovation in prices, geographic coverage, target customer groups, integration, and off-the-shelf analytics, says the McKinsey report.
Donning many hats
The modern CISOs are expected to be future-ready, more than ever! “Since CISOs need to manage multiple responsibilities, stressful scenarios and challenges, the modern CISO has to be skilled, dynamic, and someone who can think and see through the threats,” said Patro.
The modern CISO must consider these aspects and communicate their needs, opinions, and expectations to the management, it may work in their favour in the long term. Building strategy, exploring technology, and drawing a long-term roadmap of secured business architecture should be their top agenda.
