Cloud the CISO Perspectives: Use business language when discussing cyber to succeed.
Greetings and welcome to January 2025’s inaugural Cloud the CISO Perspectives. Boards of directors are where the beginning of the year, and discussing cybersecurity in business terms will help us better communicate the costs and importance of the cybersecurity threats organizations face.
The CISO Perspectives
Use business terms when discussing cybersecurity to gain broader support
Cyberattacks are unquestionably a top business risk, and a strong cybersecurity program may help businesses succeed. Therefore, one should concentrate on using (and, when required, translating) cybersecurity vocabulary to more widely known business words as cybersecurity talks shift from the SOC to the C-suite and boardrooms.
Common business language can promote improved cybersecurity policies and practices as a company objective and raise knowledge of cybersecurity issues more broadly. By discussing the business implications of cyberattacks at the executive and board level, can increase our credibility with key stakeholders and increase the likelihood that they would agree with us.
There are four major categories that this group can discuss:
- Product recalls, compromised component replacements, and customer compensation can cost millions quickly. Security breaches cost $4.88 million on average in 2024.
- Breach news can damage your brand by weakening customer loyalty and confidence, which can lower sales.
- Budgets may be completely upended by legal and regulatory repercussions as your company may be subject to customer lawsuits and regulatory fines.
- Production delays and strained relationships with partners can result from operational interruption, which frequently redirects resources and affects business continuity.
Placing cyber risk in business context
Cyberattacks interrupt services, compromise private data, damage a brand’s reputation, and erode consumer trust, decreasing revenue and shareholder value. Experts advise companies to take three crucial actions in order to manage cybersecurity risk and integrate it into company culture.
- Develop precise techniques to evaluate the financial effect of possible cyberthreats in order to quantify cyber risk. The leadership of your company can assist decision makers in understanding the whole financial exposure to cyber risk when they are able to convert technical jargon into commercial implications.
- To better convey cybersecurity threats, frame the topic in business terms. This may entail concentrating on how they might affect the strategic goals and priorities of an organisation. Use narratives that illustrate how these dangers could impact operations and revenue in place of technical numbers.
- Provide commercial benefits while maintaining security so that you may also provide related benefits when you implement controls to reduce risk. Strong security and financial gains can be achieved by risk modelling, cost-benefit evaluations, and monitoring performance indicators in line with corporate objectives.
For instance, when performing risk assessments, consider whether the controls that maintain the existing level of risk should be replaced, consolidated, or improved in order to provide adjacent benefits. The act of trying will improve ties with the larger organisation, even if you don’t always succeed.
Putting this into action
In addition to the business, boards of directors should talk about the following four issues with their chief information officer, chief technology officer, and chief information security officer:
- Business-critical services should be precisely defined, their dependencies, including those of third parties, should be documented, and any vulnerabilities should be noted.
- Make resilience a top priority so that cybersecurity measures can defend against attacks and improve the dependability of vital services. Encourage funding for incident response capability, disaster recovery planning, and redundancy.
- Encouraging active involvement from all departments will help integrate security into all business activities, making it an essential component of the organization’s DNA rather than an afterthought.
- Create a resilient workforce by giving qualified cybersecurity workers competitive pay and benefits, chances for professional growth, and a supportive work environment. You may also recruit, develop, and retain personnel by investing in extensive training and mentorship programs that foster cybersecurity and risk management capabilities across the entire organisation.
A cooperative cybersecurity plan that connects with key business services can boost your company’s security, secure its most precious assets, and make it more cyber resistant.