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CEO Report Card: Low Grades for Risk Management
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Robert McDougal
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Robert McDougal,
 User Rank: Ninja
7/22/2014 | 5:09:44 PM
Re: Compliance != Security
While I agree having everyone accountable is an ideal situation I would still argue the importance of having clear leadership.  We must have clear direction and motivation from leadership to be successful.  That is why it is important the CSO and other various people in management are in the correct spots on the org chart.  

For example, historically the CSO has reported to the CIO in many organizations.  Over the years it has become clear that this causes a conflict of interest many times.  The CIO is responsible for IT operations as a whole and as such will often put more value into the needs of operation over the needs of security.  This operation vs security conflict often times muddies the water and prohibits the CSO from providing a clear roadmap either for himself or his employees.

 
Marilyn Cohodas
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Marilyn Cohodas,
 User Rank: Strategist
7/22/2014 | 4:20:11 PM
Re: Security as an Investment
@Dr.T. At the end of the day, the shift has to come at the upper levels: That is the CEO and Board of Directors have to understand that strong security a critical cost of doing business without which the business will become extremely vulnerable to every increasing risks and data breaches. 
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
7/22/2014 | 12:53:38 PM
Re: if there's a silver lining...
It is because a more integrated world simply means more threats. Also we have been experiencing major breaches that touch consumers directly such as Target case.
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
7/22/2014 | 12:50:27 PM
Re: Compliance != Security
That is one aspect of security we tend to get lost in my view. It does not really matter who needs to report where, it is actually everybody should be reporting to everyone by keeping everybody accountable on everything is the right approach to handle security in the enterprise. If we assume it is security departments' responsibility the problems start form there down. 
Dr.T
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Dr.T,
 User Rank: Ninja
7/22/2014 | 12:46:09 PM
Security as an Investment
 

I agree with the article, we need to consider security as an investment. IT as a whole is always associated with the cost but without IT nothing can get done in today's world. The same for security, it may be way expensive to recover form incident than to prevent it.
Robert McDougal
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Robert McDougal,
 User Rank: Ninja
7/22/2014 | 11:07:12 AM
Re: Compliance != Security
In my opinion the ideal organization setup for a companies information security department would be setup this way.  The CSO would report directly to the CEO and keep him well informed of the high level threats to the organization.  Below the CSO would be four seperate director level reports.  The Director of risk would manage the duties of risk management, business continuity and disaster recovery.  The Director of Compliance would obviously handle all components of regulation compliance.  The Director of Physical Security would ensure the physical security of the organization and it's employees.  The Director of Information Security would be responsible for all technical aspects of security.
Marilyn Cohodas
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Marilyn Cohodas,
 User Rank: Strategist
7/22/2014 | 10:46:26 AM
Re: Compliance != Security
Good point, @Robert McDougal. So in our survey responses, I'm guessing the Org Chart 'checkbox' in this case might lead to Chief of risk / compliance. 
Robert McDougal
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Robert McDougal,
 User Rank: Ninja
7/22/2014 | 10:38:42 AM
Re: Compliance != Security
Not trying to put words in @chriscinfosec's mouth but in my experience sometimes regulations put executives into a check box mentallity.  This means that they believe that if they do what the regulation says then they are protected.  The regulations are a good framework but not the entirety of the solution and executives need to be educated on that fact.
Marilyn Cohodas
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Marilyn Cohodas,
 User Rank: Strategist
7/22/2014 | 10:28:40 AM
Re: Compliance != Security
Not sure I get your point @chriscinfosec about the relevance (or irrelevance) of PCI-DSS and the reporting structure of the CSO. Can you elaborate?
chriscinfosec
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chriscinfosec,
 User Rank: Apprentice
7/22/2014 | 9:42:44 AM
Compliance != Security
How has outdated compliance regimes like PCI DSS negatively impacted the security posture and readiness of organizations?  The industry is starting to say "A LOT" -- witness the work that SANS has done for their 20 Critical Security Controls to improve security through best practices and common sense.

For example, PCI mandates anti-virus for endpoints when repeated independent testing has shown that traditional anti-virus does not defend against advanced malware threats.
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