I have to admit this, I am a sucker to success, talent, and professionalism. Who wouldn’t be? Right?
I am always pleased to talk to a successful executive, or hear from a talented person about his/her passion and profession. I am always amazed by a woman director or manager who is working against the odds of culture, and achieving success on both career and personal fronts. Maybe because I have a daughter who is still starting her way as a college girl and I can’t help it but to wish for her all the best on all frontiers.
Having admit that, I have been working in the field of Information Technology in general, and in Cybersecurity specially for about two decades now, and I never met a single total failure CIO or CISO!
Surprised? Don’t be. I have been asking myself, maybe it is because I never get to work with them long enough, or maybe because I happen to be always meeting with them in ideal situations and in a proper setting. Or maybe I am so lucky to meet only the good ones. I can’t be that lucky, don’t you think?
I thought about this for long time. where are the bad CISO(s), and bad CIO(s) hiding? where are the CISO(s) that cause their organizations to be hacked to failure, or phished into bankruptcy? I am sure some of you already are cursing me and calling me names. “Come to my organization and I will show you the bad ones”, you say. Or “you have no idea what you are talking about, you XXXXXX, I have been suffering under his/her management”.
I will tell you then that I am not talking about how much you like, love, or enjoy him/her. I am talking about being a professional expert in approaching their organizations strategy, building a strong Cybersecurity program (with reasonable budget), and protecting their organizations and customers investment into the firm.
After all, what makes a good CISO?
A good CISO is the one that understands his/her organizations risks, and risk appetite. He/She knows the strategic long term goals of the organization, and driving the organization towards those goals in a timed and well balanced program. He/She is also aware of the surrounding threats and how to protect his/her organization to enable its business to flourish. A good CISO is the one that enables his organization to grow into this digital era in an agile and affordable progress.
Why are they successful? To answer this you have to consider the amount of knowledge, dedication, and resilience one needs to cope with the current complex, and threatening Cyber space. Every transaction you successfully do through eBanking or eWallet had months of hard work and frustration behind it from the CISO and their teams to secure it. All mobile clicks, business collaboration, or new big thing that we still don’t know about have been possible because of their persistent efforts in the management of their duties and responsibilities.
This is not to be taken as a reduction of their colleagues efforts, or inputs. This proves that different private and public organizations have successfully developed a robust selection, and promotion system that enables this talent. Organizations also began to understand the importance of their digital transformation and to address Cybersecurity matters within C-suits and in board rooms. This maybe because this is the field I happen to work in, analyze, and collaborate with, everyday. You already know, I am a sucker to success 🙂
In our field we happen to be always talking about threats, crimes, incidents, and crisis. I thought it would be good to stop and reflect on those who are working everywhere to protect our daily electronic life. I wish I can say I have met all of them, and I also wish I can mention their names one by one, but I am sure they all know themselves very well. To all of you out there, I Salut!