Security Needs to Start Speaking the Language of Business

At the Gartner Symposium/ITXPO, upcoming security trends for the next year include learning to speak the language of business.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Gartner Symposium/ITXPO -- The good news for enterprise security teams is that executives and board members are starting to pay attention to a range of issues, from cyberattacks to data leaks to privacy.
The bad news is that executives and company board members are starting to pay attention to security and want answers.
What can security pros, InfoSec teams and CISOs do? For starters, they can learn the language of business to communicate better with C-Suite executives. Through a better understanding of the enterprise, security can learn how tolerant executives are to risk and how security can help the organization achieve its financial goals.
At the start of the show here on October 15, Gartner analyst Peter Firstbrook looked at several security trends that enterprises of all sizes will face in the next several years. Better communication between security and company executives topped the list.
Gartner analyst Peter Firstbrook

(Source:
Scott Ferguson for Security Now
)
Security teams have to change in order to respond to this trend, Firstbrook said.
Whats driving this new-found interest in security are the daily headlines about the latest breach or attack. Firstbrook used examples ranging from the Equifax breach last year, to Verizon getting a $350 million discount on its acquisition of Yahoo thanks to data leaks at the company. (See
Second Equifax Employee Facing Insider Trading Charges
.)
Then theres ransomware, especially WannaCry, which cost businesses between $1.5 billion and $4 billion to recover from in 2017. (See
WannaCry: How the Notorious Worm Changed Ransomware
.)
Taken together, all these incidents have enterprises thinking more about security, but all parts of the business need to communicate to better respond to cyberthreats.
Part of the problem is that security doesnt really speak the language of business, and the business doesnt speak the language of security, and so the security organization needs to change the way they talk to the business, Firstbrook said. They need to understand the business risk appetite and that its OK for the business to take risks -- thats what they do all the time. They just need to understand from security what risk they are taking, and accept that risk. Our job as security practitioners is to explain to them what can possibly go wrong, what can we do to fix it, how much it might cost to fix it and then let them decide what to do.
There are several different ways to improve communication between security and the executive team. These can include hiring consults to help bridge the communication gap, and explaining why investing in better and more secure technology can help the bottom line.
An example Firstbrook used is one company wanting to upgrade to Windows 10, which offers better security, but would require a major investment. The security team explained to the CEO how the newer version of Windows could protect against ransomware that could affect the sales cycle. In the end, the company upgraded.
Firstbrook also encouraged security teams to expand by using a combination of internal recruitment and training, investment in cloud-based security tools and automation, and outsourcing some security tasks when needed.
In addition to improved communication, Firstbrook noted in his presentation that security faces a host of other challenges in the coming years. These include:
Legal and other compliance and regulatory rules that are affecting digital transformation plans, as well as increasing liability as enterprises are under more pressure to protect their data.
Security services and tools increasingly moving to the cloud, and how enterprises can take advantage of these new services.
Advancements in machine learning that are helping with some tasks but still require humans to make final decisions about security.
Security decisions that are being made against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty.
The centralization and concentration of businesses into a handful of companies. This requires a decentralized approach for security that includes technology such as blockchain and peer-to-peer networks.
Related posts:
Privacy & AI Changing the Digital Transformation Game
GAO: Pentagons New Weapons Systems Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks
Gemalto: 4.5B Records Breached in First Half of 2018
Data Breach Can Affect Companys Long-Term Stock Price
— Scott Ferguson is the managing editor of Light Reading and the editor of
Security Now
. Follow him on Twitter
@sferguson_LR
.

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