The CISOs Primary Role In Security Risk Prevention

Debashish Jyotiprakash

Vice President, Asia and Managing Director, India, Qualys

CIO World Asia spoke with Debashish Jyotiprakash, Vice President, Asia and Managing Director, India, Qualys.

Cybersecurity entails mitigating different categories of risks, posed by standalone software applications, some of which may be out-of-date, end-of-support or custom-built. There are risks posed by integrated technologies that may be managed by third parties or part of a wider supply chain. Other risks may affect physical or virtual infrastructure such as endpoints, servers, network devices, clouds and containers.

CISOs must adopt risk-based methodologies that allow cybersecurity technologies, processes and people to converge and collaborate. They must simultaneously achieve strengthened cyber defences while maintaining continuous compliance.

The Role of a CISO

Everyone agrees that a CISO’s primary responsibility is to safeguard enterprises against security risks. CISOs have a bigger responsibility in a corporation, though. A CISO’s job is to estimate the risks that an organization may incur if it decides to take on more difficult tasks. In order to guarantee that everyone is aware of what is happening, CISOs are also there to explain cybersecurity to the board of directors in a straightforward manner without getting too technical.

Businesses will need to create unique cybersecurity plans depending on the nature of their operations and the assets they manage. The largest risk to the organization will then be given top priority by the CISOs.

Therefore, in order for cybersecurity to be in line with business goals, businesses must have a system that can grow and function with feedback. Businesses will be able to do this in order to comprehend the threats they face and, with this information, to prepare for them.

CISOs Should Consider for Assessing Risk

The dangers or possible threats that CISOs will be confronting must be understood. Threats can be divided into three categories: known-knowns, known-unknowns, and unknown-unknowns. The largest threat surface consists of the known-unknown and the unknown-unknowns. Therefore, it assures that nothing can be breached by comprehending and keeping an eye on these threat surfaces.

An example of a threat surface is when a mobile phone is used for commercial purposes without any kind of security contingency. The phone started to pose a risk.

Therefore, if threat surfaces are visible to the CISO, they can create policies for employees to follow that will help to keep these risks at bay.

Cloud Service Providers (CSP)

CSP helps to reduce the amount of E-waste produced. The majority of firms that use cloud services do so using a multi-cloud approach. Businesses will need more than just native tools to safeguard their multi-cloud environment and have greater technological coverage. They will also require the correct people and procedures.

Businesses may invest in a CSP that complements their strategies by establishing a roadmap. However, new problems and risks will constantly arise, even with a plan that supports cybersecurity. This is a result of how quickly technology is evolving. Businesses should thus continuously learn and develop in order to keep up with the rapidly evolving technologies.