Today’s CISOs are fighting a war on all fronts. Above all, they need to protect their organisation and the communities they serve from increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks whilst also meeting regulatory requirements. Then there is the cost of living crisis, which has made the battle with the Board to increase cyber investments exponentially harder. And lastly, CISOs need to continually learn how to defend against new technologies – and in 2023, AI is at the top of that list.
Sekuro’s Advisory Board recently met with our Managing Director Noel Allnutt, CISO Prashant Haldankar, and Chief Growth Officer Shamane Tan, to discuss the top issues impacting its customers and how to best respond to these challenges. The board is made up of external CISOs and CIOs from different sectors, including the government, a major Australian bank, and a critical infrastructure provider. The advisory board gives Sekuro a customer-centric viewpoint and helps to develop and tailor services to best meet their needs.
From inflation to AI, and regulation, the Sekuro Advisory Board discussed how it should be addressing the major trends impacting its customers today.
- Inflaction’s impact on businesses
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) in businesses
- Legislations and regulatory changes happening at fast pace
Inflation is Hurting, a Lot
Inflation is ranked as the most damaging business risk by CEOs. Thanks to an unsteady economy, businesses have seen a big shift in price sensitivity. This has a direct impact on the bottom line and therefore makes a CISOs job that much harder as they look to secure investment to improve organisational resilience.
With budgets being squeezed and a greater emphasis on cost, Sekuro is focused on consciously delivering value. Not only when it comes to selling its own services, but also when supporting CISOs in having conversations with their own boards. The focus has to be on how investing in security will deliver long-term value. This can be hard to do when funds are tight and companies are laying off staff, but building resilience into a company is a lot cheaper than retrofitting it afterwards, and often when it’s already too late.
AI is Here to Stay
With AI being the top technology that many CEOs believe will significantly impact their industry over the next three years, organisations are setting up AI steering committees to discuss guardrails for around the technology.
Sekuro recognises the need for educational conversations with its clients to offer a balanced view and approach to leveraging the benefits of AI while mitigating risks. Whilst organisations should not be at panic stations, there is also no benefit to burying their heads in the sand.
Shadow AI is already emerging, introducing risk right under the noses of leadership teams and Boards who are simultaneously looking to adopt AI throughout the organisation to drive productivity. But this risk is manageable if organisations take a practical approach to educating teams.
Sekuro will be working with its customers on pragmatic, long-term strategies that don’t play into the hype cycle whilst not giving in to unrealised fears.
Legislation is Moving Fast
Organisations don’t have time to stay on top of every minute regulatory change. They need a partner who knows the regulations back to front so they don’t have to.
Sekuro recognises the need to ensure its entire team, from the C-suite to the GRC SMEs, are well-versed in the evolving privacy and cyber security regulatory landscape so that customers can feel confident in knowing their needs and challenges are understood at every stage of engagement.
The challenges of a CISO are changing at a rapid pace. A threat that didn’t exist yesterday might become their worst nightmare today. Through its Advisory Board, Sekuro is committed to continually evolving its services and growing its knowledge to ensure it can support its customers to build resilient organisations that keep staff, customers and communities safe.
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