In this episode of Lock It Down with Security Magazine, I had the opportunity to speak with Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Commvault Bill O’Connell regarding his experiences with the evolution of the CSO role.

“I’ve been in security for over 20 years now, and it’s been a pretty exciting journey,” O’Connell reflects.

With threats ranging from political instability to natural disasters, organizations have a lot on their plates. It’s no surprise, then, that CSOs have been gradually elevated over the years.

“I’ve seen a lot of change,” O’Connell remarks, when asked about the evolution of the CSO role. “It’s been really interesting. Early on, [security] was really not a high priority for companies, and so I often found myself in a back office somewhere, kind of far away from where the main activity was in the corporate environment, or kind of low down the totem pole. And we’ve seen how that’s flipped over these past 20 — and especially the past 10 — years, where companies have really started to realize that the focus that they need to place on this so much more, and so from an organizational standpoint, you see so much more energy and resources being put to security.”;

Although the importance of the CSO is more widely recognized, there is still a lot of misunderstanding about the value of the role. Many CSOs feel they lack a voice among the organization’s decision makers; in fact, a report from last year revealed that many even lacked the authority to establish a complete security budget.

In a time where it is more important than ever for security to be consulted about business strategy, how can CSOs ensure they are invited and involved?

“To make sure that you’re included, you have to show them — you have to show the business — why you should be there,” asserts O’Connell.

Want to learn more about how the CSO role has evolved, and how CSOs can get a seat at the table? Listen to my conversation with O’Connell below.

The CSO’s Evolution, From the Perspective of a CSO

Bill O’Connell, Chief Security Officer (CSO) of Commvault, talks about his experiences with the evolution of the CSO role.

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