CISOs don't feel supported at board level
While CISOs are often responsible for technology implementation, they are not getting the support they need at a strategic level according to a new report.
The study from LevelBlue looks at the dynamics among enterprise C-suite executives to better understand issues that prevent risk reduction, stall or complicate compliance, and create barriers to cyber resilience.
It finds that 73 percent of CISOs express concern over cybersecurity becoming unwieldy, requiring risk-laden tradeoffs, compared to only 58 percent of both CIOs and CTOs. Additionally, 73 percent of CISOs feel more pressure to implement AI strategies compared to just 58 percent of CIOs and CTOs. These pressures pair with the fact that 66 percent of CISOs believe reactive budgets cause a lack of proactive cybersecurity measures, compared to 55 percent of CIOs and 53 percent of CTOs feeling the same way.
Most CIOs (92 percent) are more inclined to embrace uncertainty concerning cyber threats, compared to 81 percent of CTOs and 75 percent of CISOs. These differences in tolerance are important when creating a cybersecurity strategy that considers business priorities.
"Understanding the C-suite's business priorities is critical for shaping effective cybersecurity strategies," says Theresa Lanowitz, chief evangelist of LevelBlue. "Identifying how these essential roles look at the business helps to ensure alignment among CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs, as well as the teams that report into them. It's a key first step towards bolstering cyber defenses, especially with the CEO and board support."
Among other findings, 74 percent of CIOs and 73 percent of CISOs say they find it challenging to assess the cybersecurity risk from their supply chain, compared to only 64 percent of CTOs.
There is little difference in the perception of cloud computing's ability to provide cybersecurity resilience among CIOs, CTOs, and CISOs, with 83 percent, 82 percent, and 80 percent, respectively, acknowledging its benefits. This shows a shared recognition among these executive roles of cloud solutions' value in enhancing cybersecurity.
You can get the full report from the LevelBlue site.
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