Why You Need Business-Aligned Cybersecurity

This article nails a fundamental issue in cybersecurity leadership today: the disconnect between technical security expertise and executive-level business strategy. One of the biggest takeaways is the communication gap between CISOs and Boards. Many CISOs speak in technical jargon—talking about vulnerabilities, threat actors, and attack vectors—when the Board really needs to hear business impacts like: • “How much potential revenue loss are we looking at if a breach happens?” • “How do our security investments align with business growth?” • “What’s our risk exposure in terms of dollars and reputation?” On the flip side, Boards are often too hands-off, treating cybersecurity as a black box. They don’t need to understand firewalls or endpoint detection systems, but they do need a framework to make cybersecurity decisions with confidence, just like they do with financial, legal, and operational risks. This means both sides need to step up: • CISOs must become business-savvy, learning to speak in financial and strategic terms. • Boards must educate themselves on cybersecurity fundamentals and integrate it into overall governance. This collaborative evolution isn’t just about compliance,it’s a necessity for business survive and thrive in the future.

Cybersecurity isn’t just the responsibility of your IT department—it’s an essential part of C-suite decision-making. Executives don’t need to be technical experts to lead security initiatives, but they do need to be informed and proactive. Here’s the reality: cybersecurity threats don’t just impact data—they can: 👉 Disrupt operations 👉 Erode customer trust 👉 Lead to costly fines and regulatory scrutiny But it doesn’t have to be this way. 🛡️ Here’s what you need to know to drive cybersecurity efforts effectively as a non-technical executive: 1️⃣ Understand the Business Impact → Cybersecurity is about business continuity. Know how a breach could affect your operations, reputation, and bottom line. 2️⃣ Foster a Security-First Culture → Lead by example. Show your teams that security is a priority by making it part of your business strategy, not just an IT issue. 3️⃣ Ask the Right Questions → You don’t need to know the technical details, but ask your teams about potential risks, current vulnerabilities, and what’s being done to address them. 4️⃣ Invest in Education and Training → Ensure your teams have access to regular training on the latest cybersecurity best practices. A well-prepared workforce is your best defense. 5️⃣ Collaborate with Experts → While IT teams play a vital role, it's crucial to involve cybersecurity specialists who have the deep expertise needed to safeguard your organization. Collaborate with these experts to ensure informed decisions and comprehensive protection. 6️⃣ Prepare for the Worst → Have a detailed response plan in place and ensure it is regularly tested with a tabletop exercise at least once a year, if not more frequently. Regular testing helps your team become familiar with the process and ensures everyone knows their role when an attack occurs, reducing potential damage and improving your organization’s readiness. Cybersecurity leadership doesn’t require technical expertise—just a commitment to understanding the risks and taking informed, proactive steps. 👉 Ready to lead your company’s cybersecurity efforts with confidence? Let’s connect and discuss strategies to empower you and your organization.

Cybersecurity Can’t Just Be Technical Anymore — It Must Be Strategic. Cybersecurity today is business-critical. That means we need leaders who can bridge the gap between technical expertise and business acumen. This article from highlights a fundamental shift: The next generation of cybersecurity leadership must speak the language of risk, revenue, and resilience — not just firewalls and frameworks. Boards don’t want to hear about zero-days; they want to know: * How does this threat impact our bottom line? * What’s the risk to shareholder value? * How are we enabling secure innovation? Security must be positioned as a business enabler, not an obstacle. That requires CISOs and security leaders to evolve into strategic advisors — embedded in the fabric of decision-making, not siloed in IT. We don’t just need more technical experts.
We need business-minded leaders who understand security. If you're in cybersecurity, now is the time to sharpen your financial fluency, understand your organization’s goals, and align your strategies with business impact.
That’s where influence — and real change — begins. #Cybersecurity #Leadership #CISO #BusinessStrategy #RiskManagement #DigitalTransformation #ExecutiveLeadership

🚀 The Evolving Role of Tech Leaders: From Protectors of Technology to Guardians of Business Resiliency 🚀 Cybersecurity alone isn’t enough. Today’s tech leaders must protect the entire enterprise—from revenue and continuity to digital trust—to counter today’s rising risks. With AI, interconnected systems, and legacy tech in play, securing just the IT infrastructure won’t cut it. The stakes are high: $10.5 trillion in potential global cybercrime costs by 2025, and $400 billion in annual downtime losses for top companies. A lack of holistic protection leaves companies exposed to fines, reputational damage, and lost customer trust. Protecting the whole business isn’t just smart—it’s essential. Strategies for Building Business Resilience 🔍 Prioritize Critical Assets Not all assets are created equal. Focus on the 30% of assets that drive 70% of business impact. By securing the core, tech leaders can dramatically reduce risk across the enterprise. 🛠️ Shift Security Left Embed cybersecurity early in the development process to reduce risks down the line. Adopt “policy-as-code” practices to ensure security is a foundational part of every product or service, resulting in fewer vulnerabilities and a more resilient product lifecycle. 🔐 Build Digital Trust Digital trust goes beyond compliance. Be transparent with customers and address third-party risks proactively. Today, only 30% of companies follow best practices for cybersecurity and digital trust. Companies that prioritize this build both customer confidence and regulatory resilience. 🌐 Take an End-to-End View of Resilience Don’t just look at technology—analyze the entire business function. Partnering with other business units can help tech teams identify weak points across processes, people, and systems, rather than focusing solely on the technology stack. ⚙️ Address Technical Debt Tech debt is the “silent killer” of modernization. Right now, 20-40% of IT budgets go toward servicing tech debt instead of innovation. Proactively tackling this debt enables modernization without paying the hidden tax of past issues. 🧩 Test and Scenario Plan for Continuity Regularly simulate incidents with key stakeholders and vendors. This ensures that 50-60% of downtime, which is often due to process issues rather than technical failures, can be mitigated before it impacts the business. Planning isn’t just preventative—it’s protective. In a world of growing digital complexity, evolving from tech protector to business guardian is essential. Is your team ready to embrace resilience beyond cybersecurity? #CyberSecurity #BusinessResilience #DigitalTrust #EnterpriseTech #TechLeadership #AI #RiskManagement #DigitalTransformation

You can’t hack your way to trust. And you can’t innovate in chaos. This post is a follow-up to yesterday's article because organizations must understand that you can't talk about one of the nodes in the triad without talking about the other two. Push one too hard, and the whole system grinds to a halt. But when they’re aligned? That’s when the magic really happens. 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀—𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗳𝗲𝗱. AI thrives on clean, accessible data, but your cybersecurity and data governance aren’t airtight, you’re feeding your AI poisoned inputs—or worse, leaking critical outputs. Data poisoning or model inference attacks FTW. 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿—𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗿. Too many people treat cybersecurity as the brakes on innovation. But think of it as the seatbelt on your AI-powered sports car. You wouldn’t drive at 200 mph without protection, right? Strong security frameworks aren’t just about protecting data; they’re about enabling trust—the foundation of any digital business. 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗹𝘂𝗲. All the AI innovation and cybersecurity in the world means nothing if it doesn’t deliver measurable business results. Enablement is where the rubber meets the road—turning insights into outcomes, trust into transactions, and resilience into revenue. The challenge? These gears don’t always mesh smoothly. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰: 1. Start with strategy: Define clear business outcomes and reverse-engineer the role of AI and cybersecurity. 2. Break the silos: Your AI and cybersecurity teams can’t operate in isolation. Collaboration isn’t optional; it’s essential. 3. Measure what matters: Align your KPIs across these three domains. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. When done right, this alignment creates a feedback loop: AI insights strengthen business enablement, cybersecurity safeguards them, and the results fuel more innovation. That’s the flywheel. Are your AI, cybersecurity, and business enablement efforts stuck in silos—or are they part of a single, unified strategy? Let’s discuss. #AIstrategy #Cybersecurity #BusinessEnablement #DigitalTransformation

In an article last year for Foreign Affairs Magazine (https://lnkd.in/ggFTEU3z) on how to catalyze a sustainable approach to cybersecurity, Eric Goldstein & I emphasized that in every business the responsibility for cybersecurity must be elevated from the IT department to the CEO and the Board. As we noted, the trend is moving in the right direction: In a survey conducted by NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors), 79% of public company directors indicated that their Board’s understanding of cyber risk had significantly improved over the past two years. The same study, however, found that only 64% believed their Board’s understanding of cyber risk was strong enough that they could provide effective oversight. To improve those numbers, CEOs & Boards must take ownership of cyber risk as a matter of good governance. This is largely a cultural change: where cybersecurity is considered a niche IT issue, accountability will inevitably fall on the CISO; when cybersecurity is considered a core business risk, it will be owned by the CEO and Board. Recognizing that Board members in particular have special power to drive a culture of "Corporate Cyber Responsibility," I asked my Advisory Committee to make recommendations on how to advance such a culture. The effort, led by Dave DeWalt, highlighted several key points: Board members should be continuously educated on cyber risk, with cybersecurity considerations appropriately prioritized in every business and technology decision, and decisions to accept cyber risk scrutinized and revisited often. Boards should also ensure that the thresholds for reporting potential malicious activity to senior management are not set too high; “near misses” should be reported along with successful intrusion attempts, as much can be learned from them. In addition, Boards should ensure that adequate long-term security investments are available to address the safety consequences of antiquated technology with new investments focused on technology that is #SecureByDesign. Finally, Board members should ensure that CISO's have the influence & resources necessary to make essential decisions on cybersecurity, with decisions to prioritize profits over security made both rarely and transparently. The Committee also recommended developing a Cybersecurity Academy for Board Directors & set about establishing a pilot program, which was held yesterday at the U.S. Secret Service Training Center (https://lnkd.in/eVSzP_sx). Huge thanks to my teammate Kimberly C. for her partnership, as well as the awesome Ron Green for driving this effort with Dave & Katherine Hennessey Gronberg, and the great NACD team, led by Peter Gleason. Am super grateful to the Board Directors who participated in this inaugural effort and look forward to their feedback so we can further scale the program.

Why Some CISOs Struggle to Communicate Cyber Risk to the Board 💡 CISOs—be honest. How many times have you been asked by executives: 👉 “Why do we need to invest more in cybersecurity?” 👉 “How does this risk actually impact the business?” 👉 “Can we cut cyber spending without increasing risk?” If you can’t tie cyber risk to business impact, you’ll struggle to answer these questions in a way that resonates with CEOs, CFOs, and boards. I’ve seen many CISOs focus their reporting on technical maturity scores—compliance checklists, control effectiveness, and security frameworks. But here’s the problem: Maturity doesn’t equal business value. Cybersecurity leaders who only operate from a maturity-based mindset often: ❌ Struggle to quantify cybersecurity’s ROI or ROV. ❌ Overinvest in low-impact areas while underfunding critical risks. ❌ Fail to align cybersecurity priorities with the business’s actual needs. But there’s a better approach. Integrated Enterprise Risk Management (IERM) shifts cybersecurity from a standalone function to an essential part of business risk strategy. When you align cyber risk with business impact: ✔ You prioritize cybersecurity investments based on financial and operational consequences—not just frameworks. ✔ You can articulate risk in business terms—not just security language. ✔ You ensure every dollar spent on cybersecurity has a measurable impact on protecting critical business functions. 💬 CISOs, how do you currently communicate cybersecurity value to executives? Are you still using maturity models, or have you started integrating cyber risk into business risk discussions? 👇 Drop your thoughts in the comments! 🔜 Stay tuned for my next article in the series: Moving from a Maturity-Based to a Risk-Based Cybersecurity Approach. #CISO #CyberRisk #BusinessAlignment #Cybersecurity #RiskManagement #Leadership

My colleague and Silent Quadrant CEO, Adam Brewer, makes an astute case that in today's climate, cybersecurity leadership can no longer just be relegated to others. Executives across the C-suite must embrace their imperative as cybersecurity trailblazers. Adam outlines key attributes modern leaders need - from cultivating technical curiosity, to instilling resilience through data-driven resource allocation, fostering collaboration across silos, communicating with transparency, architecting robust systems, strategically leveraging partners, managing risks, and empowering continuous improvement. With threats rapidly escalating, organizations need C-level champions who make cybersecurity a strategic business priority. Mindset shifts must occur alongside tactical protections. As Adam states, progress compounds when driven from the top. Leaders who take an active role in steering their company's cybersecurity program can navigate the digital wilderness with confidence. By embracing key pillars, they build resilient organizations where security enables sustainable success. "By exemplifying key traits like technical curiosity, resilience thinking, transparent communication, and hands-on commitment, c-suite executives can blaze the trail to cyber maturity. Prioritizing mindset shifts alongside tactical protections unlocks substantial benefits for their customers, employees, partners, and shareholders." I encourage reading Adam's insights on the critical principles executives must exemplify to blaze a trail to cyber maturity. His perspective equips leaders to meet their imperative for trailblazing cybersecurity governance. #digitalsecurity #cybersecurity #csuiteleaders #resilience

#Cybersecurity as a #CompetitiveAdvantage - We typically think about Cybersecurity in the same category as dirty laundry and crazy uncles (i.e. stuff you don't want to talk about.) After reviewing Accenture's State of Cybersecurity, I'm impressed with how businesses that have leaned into developing a proper defense have achieved tangible business results by "reinventing the whole enterprise." (e.g. 18% more likely to achieve revenue targets, market share, improved customer satisfaction, and greater employee productivity, 6x more effective #DigitalTransformation) It makes sense. Effective organizational change occurs when there is a compelling, driving need for specific outcomes. The escalating threat of #ransomware provides an unrelenting flood of reminders of the need to take action. An effective cyber defense requires a comprehensive, holistic understanding of the org's business systems and processes across many dimensions (e.g. marketing, sales, operations, customer service, finance, legal, etc.) A proper defense requires a competent, essential understanding of what to defend and tighter operational controls over the business to maintain the integrity of the defense. Cyber investments are most effective and least expensive when planned rather than when added on as an afterthought. A robust cyber defense justifies proactive investments in elevating an organization's operational processes. It is refreshing to realize that cybersecurity is not merely a necessary chore to be completed; when done correctly, cybersecurity can return highly favorable business outcomes. #TimTang Hughes #NRFBigShow #NRF2024