Today's challenging reality presents an opportunity for CISO’s to reevaluate the economics and efficiencies of their current infosec program. To do so, CISO’s must narrow their focus on maximizing their return on investments and shift to a risk-based prioritization strategy. No matter the situation, CISO’s are always expected to meet goals and drive results. Even though security professionals cannot reduce risk to zero, they can reduce risk significantly by first eliminating the most impactful risks facing their organization.  Below, I discuss the four critical steps of leading an economical and efficient information security program while following a risk-based approach.

By implementing a data protection by design approach, both before and during product development, organizations will build more trust with customers and end users, and curtail risk of future privacy-related conflicts.

Before COVID, cybersecurity was a concern for businesses everywhere. In fact, in Microsoft’s 2019 Global Risk Perception Survey, 57 percent of companies ranked cybersecurity as a higher risk than economic uncertainty and brand reputation or damage. Looking ahead, what does all of this mean for the role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)? Not only is it more important than ever before, but the role has shifted since the start of COVID.

Metrics for security are in wide use in organizations today, with more than 80 percent of respondents to a new SANS Institute survey claiming some level of maturity on their effective use of security metrics.

Do an image search using the terms “security manager,” “security director,” “CSO” or “security professional,” and the results will be fairly predictable. With its roots in law enforcement, the security industry has long been dominated by men, whether in management, sales, or technical positions.