The CISO’s Dilemma: Too Much to Do, Too Little Time
Do you wish you could clone yourself? The CISO’s job is extremely dynamic and at times overwhelming. Between board meetings, steering committees, executive briefings, and change control boards (CAB), the CISO’s calendar is often consumed by high-stakes discussions. Yet, those meetings represent just a fraction of the responsibilities under the CISO’s purview. Behind the scenes of strategy development lies a demanding list of operational, tactical, and compliance-driven tasks that must be addressed with urgency and precision. Today’s Chief Information Security Officer is more than a technologist. They are a strategist, a crisis manager, a policy architect, a business enabler, and a steward of trust. The modern CISO’s dilemma is not about capability, it’s about capacity. With limited time and expanding responsibilities, CISOs must constantly prioritizing between what’s critical and what’s consequential. 1. Governance Program Development or Restructuring A security program without governance is like a ship without a rudder. Whether creating a new governance framework or restructuring a legacy one, CISOs must define policies, establish accountability, and ensure alignment with enterprise goals. But this foundational work is often overshadowed by more urgent fire drills, despite being essential for long-term success. 2. Compliance and Audit Preparation From NIST and ISO frameworks to HIPAA, PCI DSS, and state privacy laws, internal and mandated compliance is non-negotiable. CISOs must prepare for internal audits, manage third-party assessments, and respond to regulatory inquiries—all while maintaining daily operational integrity. Compliance is a moving target, and keeping up with it demands continuous attention. 3. KPI and KRI Development To communicate value and risk effectively, CISOs need solid Key Performance Indicators (KPI)s and Key Risk Indicators (KRI)s. Developing meaningful metrics requires more than just dashboards—it demands collaboration with business units, clarity in definitions, and consistency in data sources. These indicators translate cyber risk into business language but are often deprioritized due to competing demands. 4. Policy Creation, Review, and Maintenance Cybersecurity policies guide behavior, set expectations, and support enforcement. Yet with constant regulatory updates and evolving business models, these documents require frequent reviews. From acceptable use to AI governance, the policy lifecycle is a continuous responsibility that rarely gets the time it needs. 5. Tactical and Strategic Road mapping A CISO must look both five weeks and five years ahead. Road mapping involves aligning cybersecurity priorities with business objectives, budget planning, and board-level reporting. Tactical roadmaps keep operations efficient; strategic ones future-proof the organization. Balancing both is a delicate and time-intensive task. 6. Incident Response Program Development & Tabletop Exercises Designing and operationalizing an incident response program requires cross-functional coordination and continuous refinement. Tabletop exercises test muscle memory and reveal gaps, but planning and executing these simulations take time and participation from key stakeholders, many of whom are also time-constrained. 7. Risk and Cybersecurity Gap Assessments NIST SP 800-30 or ISO 27005-based risk assessments and cybersecurity gap analyses are essential to understanding exposure and driving prioritization. These assessments require interviews, control reviews, and documentation deep-dives, none of which happen quickly or easily. 8. Data Identification, Classification, and Flow Mapping Data governance is a cornerstone of security and privacy. CISOs are responsible for identifying where sensitive data resides, classifying it appropriately, and mapping its movement across systems and third parties. This effort is foundational to protecting confidentiality and ensuring compliance, but requires ongoing collaboration with business units and IT. Considering a Data Security Posture Management Solution (DSPM) is paramount to the success of this initiative. 9. Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning Disaster recovery and business continuity are not just IT exercises, they’re strategic necessities. The CISO must help architect, test, and refine plans that ensure the business can operate during crises. This includes scenario planning, recovery time objectives (RTOs), and recovery point objectives (RPOs), all of which take time and precision. 10. Third-Party Risk Management As supply chain threats rise, managing vendor risk has become mission critical. CISOs must assess, onboard, monitor, and reassess third parties, ensuring they meet security expectations. This includes contract reviews, questionnaires, and incident response planning, all while under growing scrutiny from regulators and boards. 11. M&A Cybersecurity Due Diligence Mergers and acquisitions introduce significant risk. CISOs play a central role in evaluating the security posture of acquired entities, identifying inherited risks, and advising on integration strategies. These engagements are high-pressure, time-sensitive, and often confidential. 12. Awareness Training & Simulation Testing Programs Human error remains one of the top causes of security breaches. CISOs must ensure awareness training is not only compliant but engaging and measurable. Simulated phishing campaigns, targeted micro-trainings, and behavioral analytics all fall under this umbrella, but require time, tools, and creativity. 13. Privacy Act Readiness Privacy regulations are no longer theoretical. From California’s CPRA to Virginia, Colorado, and a growing list of U.S. states, data privacy laws are becoming a reality for every organization. The lack of a federal mandate only adds complexity. CISOs must prepare systems and policies for consent management, data subject access rights, breach notification, and data minimization, before enforcement becomes a reality. Conclusion: A Call for Support, Not Just Strategy The modern CISO operates at the intersection of risk, regulation, and resilience. But the breadth of responsibility often exceeds the capacity of even the most experienced leader. The solution is not simply to work harder, but to build stronger teams, secure executive sponsorship, and leverage expert partners where needed. That’s where AccessIT Group’s seasoned and certified virtual CISOs (vCISOs) provide immediate value. Our vCISOs bring deep experience, cross-industry insight, and trusted advisory capabilities to support your organization’s cybersecurity leadership, whether you need strategic governance, compliance oversight, incident readiness, or support for critical initiatives like M&A due diligence, risk assessments, or privacy program development. CISOs need more than just strategy, they need support. With AccessIT Group’s CISO Assist services, organizations can scale their cybersecurity leadership, reduce risk, and move from reactive firefighting to proactive resilience, securing not just today’s operations, but tomorrow’s growth. By: Brett Price – Lead Cybersecurity Consultant and vCISO – C|CISO, CISSP, CISM, CISA
Securing the Supply Chain: A CISO’s Guide to Managing Risks from Third Parties
Today’s interconnected digital world reveals that an organization’s cybersecurity depends on its most vulnerable element, which often exists outside company walls. Third-party vendors, together with suppliers, contractors, and partners, create complex dependencies that attackers regularly target because of existing vulnerabilities. The CISO, as the leader of the organization’s cybersecurity efforts, now plays a crucial role in supply chain risk management. This role represents both mandatory compliance and essential enterprise resilience needs. The New Face of Supply Chain Threats Recent attacks on zero-day vulnerabilities within popular software components have joined the SolarWinds and MOVEit incidents. Threat actors have modified their attack methods by launching attacks against third parties with weaker security defenses to gain entry into better-protected organizations. The evolving nature of threats requires organizations to move their risk management beyond traditional perimeter defense toward more extensive proactive security measures. The rise of Anything as a Service (XaaS) and open-source components, together with supply network globalization, makes third-party risk management more difficult. Every enterprise today depends on hundreds to thousands of external partners who get access to sensitive information and system resources and code repositories. Key Challenges in Third-Party Risk Management CISOs encounter various ongoing obstacles when implementing supply chain protection measures. 1. Many organizations fail to obtain complete information about their third-party relationships and the specific data access rights their entities possess. 2. Vendor assessment procedures are frequently manual and isolated. They are restricted to initial onboarding phases without follow-up assessments for evolving risk profiles. 3. The changing threat environment introduces complex assessment challenges because of AI-based phishing attacks, deepfake impersonations, and state-sponsored cyberattacks. The regulatory framework has become more demanding because of NIS2 (the Network and Information Systems Directive II), GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation), and the SEC’s new cybersecurity disclosure requirements which enforce enhanced monitoring and reporting of third-party security risks. A CISO’s Playbook: Strategies for Securing the Supply Chain CISOs need to incorporate cybersecurity into vendor management life cycles, which include vendor selection and onboarding, followed by continuous observation and vendor termination. The following strategic pillars will direct this transformation process: 1. The company needs to implement a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) framework. The TPRM program should contain formalized procedures that include: The framework should classify vendors into two risk groups (critical and non-critical). The security questionnaires follow the standards of NIST, ISO 27001, and SOC 2. The TPRM program should integrate with procurement and legal operational workflows. 2. Continuous Monitoring and Threat Intelligence Point-in-time assessments are no longer sufficient. Continuous monitoring tools and cyber threat intelligence feeds should be used to: Detect signs of vendor compromise Determine if there is shadow IT or unauthorized connections present. Real-time vulnerability management is required to detect new vulnerabilities. 3. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) Third-party access requires the implementation of Zero Trust principles. Every user should receive the minimal permissions needed for their role. Implement micro-segmentation Monitor all network traffic and user behavior analytics (UBA) 4. Contractual and Legal Safeguards The vendor agreements need to incorporate the following elements: Vendors must meet both cybersecurity standards and data protection regulations. Breach notification timelines Right to audit clauses The terms need to be checked and revised at regular intervals to match current security threats, together with emerging regulations. 5. Vendor Incident Response Integration Third parties need to integrate into your organization’s incident response procedures. This includes: Clear communication channels Shared escalation paths Joint tabletop exercises The collaboration during a crisis shortens the response period while minimizing potential damage. 6. Culture and Training Cyber risk is not just a technical issue. The procurement department, legal staff, compliance experts, and business personnel need training to identify and report third-party risks. All individuals who make decisions about vendors should receive cybersecurity training. The Road Ahead Supply chain security is not a future concern, but a pressing issue for boardrooms today. As digital ecosystems expand and attackers become more sophisticated, regulatory oversight intensifies. The CISO’s role is to create a risk-oriented environment that treats third-party security as a business necessity. Call to Action Your organization needs to establish preparedness for the upcoming supply chain cyber threat. It also needs to assess its third-party risk management program at this moment. Your vendor ecosystem requires a complete audit, as your organization should invest in monitoring tools and adopt NIST CSF 2.0 and ISO/IEC 27036 frameworks. Implementing proactive security measures in your supply chain is not just a response to a potential breach, but a way to reveal and address vulnerabilities before they become a problem. Remember, the best defense is a proactive offense. Remember, you’re not alone in this. AccessIT Group’s team of cybersecurity experts is here to offer consultation services, helping you establish robust TPRM programs and modernize your cybersecurity strategies. We provide customized consultations based on your industry needs and risk exposure profile, ensuring you have the support you need. By: John August Otte – Senior Cybersecurity Consultant – C|CISO | CISSP | CISM | CISA