"The Perfect Scorecard: Getting An 'A' in Cybersecurity From Your Board Of Directors" book offers best practices in closing the communications gap between security experts and the board members tasked with the organization's governance and oversight activities.

Only 7% of security leaders report to the CEO. Security leaders have assumed more accountability and risk, but struggle to achieve the desired security posture, because they are not seen as influential or valued members of their peer group, according to new research.

According to a survey of 500 IT professionals (conducted by cloud and data center solutions provider INAP), 57 percent feel they’re only contacted when something goes wrong, and 27 percent feel strongly that “senior management has clearly communicated a desire to see the IT team more aligned with the goals of individual business units.”

Twenty-three percent of Canadian cybersecurity teams never speak with their executive team about cybersecurity, but of those that did, 23 percent spoke just annually, and 24 percent spoke with the C-Suite semi-annually. Only 13 percent of IT Canadian security professionals spoke with executives quarterly, according to a new Ponemon Institute study with Websense, Inc.

The information security function fully meets needs in only 17 percent of organizations, according to EY’s 16^th annual Global Information Security Survey 2013, which tracks the level of awareness and action in response to cyber threats, canvassing the opinion of more than 1,900 senior executives globally.

The focus should be on bridging cultural gaps and educating the C-Suite, says a research vice president for Gartner.