Security Staff Acquisition & Development

Over the past few years the security industry has seen a rise in the number of appointed CISOs. At companies where previously the security team was small, secluded, and likely managed by the CIO, it is refreshing that mention of a CISO is no longer followed by puzzled looks or blank stares.

Depending on your media outlet of choice, the current cybersecurity staffing shortage is either pressing or catastrophic. In either case, a staffing shortage exists and the industry needs to take more proactive steps to look beyond current talent pools to fill open positions, as well as positions that will be created as the industry continues to expand. 

Today, many organizations’ executive teams and boards of directors conflate cybersecurity and risk. Risk management is a broader practice than security alone, but cybersecurity is an increasingly “big ticket item” on boards’ agendas—alongside other more traditional risk discussions—since it’s clear that a major breach can impact the organization in meaningful ways. 

  Go to any security conference nowadays, and you’ll find that everyone and their brother (from end users to service providers to vendors) has jumped on the threat intelligence bandwagon.

No threat actor ever avoided attacking your system because you marked a control as compliant. So why do so many defenders spend so little time understanding the threat?

Cybersecurity is a lot like driving; towns and cities and their respective road crews can keep roads in ace condition and post all kinds of clearly marked signs for speed limits, road hazards, dangerous curves, blind driveways, and the like. Police can patrol the roads for dangerous or illegal driving.

With the recent Dyn distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack lighting up media headlines, enterprise security practitioners are being asked how to ensure that the organizations for which they work aren’t the next DDoS victims.

Cybersecurity has been gaining traction as a “board level topic” over the past several years. While boards of directors, along with executive management, all want the answer to, “How secure are we,” security professionals know that that answer doesn’t often come wrapped in a tidy little box.