Five Essential Skills For CISOs: A Roadmap To Success In Cybersecurity Leadership

Dara Warn is the CEO of INE, a global leader in enterprise cybersecurity training and certifications.

We are in the throes of a total digital transformation, so it is no wonder that 86% of chief information security officers (CISOs) recently reported that their role has changed drastically since assuming the position. In addition to technological advancements and a proliferation of threats, today’s criminals are harnessing AI to orchestrate attacks with chilling precision, adding a new layer of urgency to the cybersecurity discourse.

Within organizations, the importance of the CISO role has been elevated in recent years. CISOs now have a prominent seat at the table with other C-level executives and are driving strategy alongside their counterparts. Organizationally, cybersecurity has quickly shifted from a “should do” to a “must do” activity with everything from securing networks and training frontline workers to testing and defending against attacks.

Consumer and customer confidence is essential to any business, and organizations are not willing to risk that with a leaky cyber strategy. This is driving a renewed focus on high-level training and expert simulations that help organizations run more securely and with greater confidence.

In response to this relatively new dynamic, today’s CISOs face a unique challenge because they need not only technical expertise but also strategic foresight, leadership and communication skills to secure critical buy-in from stakeholders. Several skills stand out among the most essential for the new generation of CISOs.

1. Technical Expertise

At the core of the CISO role is a deep technical understanding of cybersecurity. This includes knowledge of networks, systems, cloud services and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. However, this is no longer the primary skill required for CISOs; it is simply a baseline expectation.

Key Technical Areas:

• Network and systems security

• Application security

• Endpoint protection

• Cloud security

• Incident response and threat hunting

2. Strategic Thinking

A CISO’s responsibilities now extend far beyond technical expertise. The State of the CISO, 2023-2024 report by IANS underscores the new expectations that CISOs prioritize business acumen over purely technical skills and leverage a direct line of communication with the CEO, C-suite and board to secure critical resources. They must develop long-term security strategies that align with the organization’s larger goals.

Strategies For Success:

• Aligning cybersecurity strategies with business objectives

• Risk assessment and management

• Security architecture development tailored to business needs

3. Regulatory Compliance And Governance

With increasing legal and regulatory requirements around data security, CISOs need a thorough understanding of compliance issues. This includes familiarity with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA and others that impact global operations. A recent LinkedIn survey conducted by INE Security found PCI-DSS (finance) as the most challenging standard to comply with (37%), followed by NIST (government, 24%), HIPAA (healthcare, 22%) and GDPR (general, 16%).

4. Communication Skills

Perhaps one of the most important but overlooked skills for CISOs is the ability to communicate complex security concepts to nontechnical stakeholders, including the board and other executives. Effective communication ensures that security is a board-level priority and is crucial for securing the necessary resources for cybersecurity initiatives.

Communication Strategies:

• Leveraging data and statistics

• Emphasizing regulatory compliance

• Highlighting the ROI and competitive advantages

5. Crisis Communication

Another surprising skill that benefits CISOs is crisis communication. In the event of a security breach, a CISO must be able to communicate effectively and calmly with all stakeholders, including employees, customers, regulators and the media. This skill ensures that the organization maintains trust and control over the narrative, minimizing damage to its reputation.

Crisis Communication Techniques:

• Preparing clear, concise and jargon-free messages that convey the facts and next steps

• Training for media interactions and public speaking under pressure

• Establishing communication protocols in advance for quick deployment during a crisis

Conclusion

As leaders and professionals, we are always learning and evolving our skills, and often, the biggest learnings come from challenges. For me, a key lesson is that you need to always test and learn. You might have the best-laid plans, but they do not always work out.

If you have a measurement plan in place, you know quickly if you are on track or off track and can adjust. My biggest professional wins have come when we had conviction and knew what we were tracking early on so we could adjust.

We will never manage all cybersecurity risk—this field, in particular, requires constant evolution and development of skills and defenses because the threats are ever-changing. With the proliferation of AI, impersonations and data breaches, the criticality of having a fluid and self-advancing cyber strategy and a continually upskilled workforce is essential. We cannot get to zero risk, but we can get to a place where we have remediations and defenses that can learn and retrain based on the evolution of the risk.

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