The Cyber Defense eMagazine November Edition for 2023

Expect to Fail: How Organizations Can
Benefit from a Breach
By Tyler Farrar, CISO, Exabeam
The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is one of the most prominent and well-paid positions in
digital security. As CISO, you bear primary responsibility for protecting your organization's data, you play
an important part in business strategy, and help secure the future of the company. Some regard the CISO
role as the pinnacle of a career in cybersecurity. Security analysts, the entry-level members of a SOC
team, enthralled by the challenges and rewards of detecting threats and preventing breaches, often
aspire to this role in the C-suite.
As they advance up the chain of command, however, they quickly discover that the CISO role is not as
fascinating as it seems. Rife with stress and intense pressure to ensure organizations comply with
governance and regulatory requirements, nearly half of CISOs cite human error and a lack of
cybersecurity understanding as the most critical threats confronting enterprises today.
The rigorous demands and pressures of the job keep 90% of CISOs up at night, with many opting for a
career switch. Much of the tension can be attributed to long hours and the misplaced idea that security
professionals can eliminate all threats. Misaligned expectations can lead to a culture of fear and blame,
where mistakes are unacceptable. This is a result of CISOs now facing federal charges if it’s proven they
failed to properly handle a security breach. Scapegoating CISOs for security incidents is not new, with
many subjected to public blame or firing for such incidents. But new accountability measures from the
federal government have made a CISO’s job even more difficult.
Cyber Defense eMagazine – November 2023 Edition 107
Copyright © 2023, Cyber Defense Magazine. All rights reserved worldwide.