People, not Technology

Cybersecurity is never just about technology. At the end of the day, it’s about the people who realize what the needs are and resonate these needs across the organization to ensure they are properly addressed. Indeed, it is up to the security subject matter experts – titles and roles vary between organizations with CISO, CIO, Director of IT and others – to articulate to their management, not only the specific technical need for a new product, but the understanding of the role cybersecurity plays in the big picture of the organization’s operational needs.

The Security\Management Communication Gap

It’s often the case that the local security champion finds it easier to understand what the security gaps are, what has to be done, and how to prioritize between the different needs, than to communicate this story to management and then get the resources to do the job.

The key is to engage management into becoming active cybersecurity partners possessing a native interest in the cybersecurity level, advances made, success stories and lessons learned from failures. This mindset elevates the entire cyber discourse from budget request to strategic goals discussion.

The Definitive Security for Management PPT Template

To assist the security stakeholders in creating this type of engagement, we have created ‘The Definitive Security for Management’ PPT Template, an intuitive presentation flow, to frame the type of high-level security discussion that can capture management attention and continuously frame a joint interest in continuously advancing security level.

The definitive ‘Security for Management’ uses the NIST Cyber Security Framework as high-level guidelines to frame the discussion and includes parts to complete, per the specific organization’s state. Overall, it assists in the following:

• Turn cybersecurity from abstract risk to business mission – map a vague risk notion for real people that occupy specific roles to protect from a clearly tangible loss.
• Create a common language so security needs are easily understood – knowledge is power. Security knowledgeable management is instrumental in moving in the right direction. The NIST framework pillars of identify, protect, detect, respond and recover are easily understood and provide good ground to communicate.
• Experience cybersecurity as continuous strategic journey rather than mere budget request – you cannot exaggerate the importance of this part. Understanding that being secure is a perpetual process which is paramount for any long-term planning.
• Introduce operational metrics to measure stature and progress – at the end of the day everything has to translate to numbers. Either goals are achieved, or they are not, one way or the other, presenting results of security products and teams brings the transparency that creates trust.

The definitive ‘Security for Management’ presentation template is ideal for anyone who works hard on the security of their organization and strives to communicate this work’s true value.

Download the definitive ‘Security for Management’ presentation template.