Date: 30 January 2020
India’s top CISOs answered this most critical question at the Mumbai Wisdom of Crowds event in May
At its highly-acclaimed and much sought-after Wisdom of Crowds events, the team at Cyber Management Alliance regularly gathers the best brains in the world of cybersecurity, from different markets and geographies, into one room. The result is a generous outpouring of thought leadership, valuable opinions and experience-sharing that’s truly unmatched in the industry.
At its recently-concluded Wisdom of Crowds event in Mumbai’s stylish Sofitel BKC hotel in May 2019, CMA had another such golden opportunity. We got some of India’s top CISOs and IT heads to answer one simple question that can actually make all the difference to an organisation’s security posture: What’s that one question that the CEO should ask the CISO.
Are you intrigued about what this question is? Well, here’s what the experts had to say:
Are you intrigued about what this question is? Well, here’s what the experts had to say:
Avinash Prasad, Vice President & Business Head, Tata Communications: “Are we prepared? Are we secure? These are the most frequently-asked questions that a CEO poses from a business point of view. CEOs are interested in knowing if risk is being managed well and what can be done to manage it better. If they hear about an imminent risk coming their way, they are bound to question the CISO about the organisation’s preparedness to deal with that risk.”
Aman Malhotra, Senior Manager, Cybersecurity and Data Protection, TUV, SUD: “The CEO must ask the CISO what his/her vision for 2020 is – both in terms of where the organisation stands today and in terms of the resilience programme for the future.”
Jobbin James, Manager, Sales Engineering, India/SAARC, SonicWall Inc: “The CISO should be most concerned about compliance and security threats that can happen. The CEO must make sure that the CISO is well-aware of the lawsuits that can come the organisation’s way in case of a lack of compliance.”
Amol Desai, CISO, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance: “The CEO should ask the CISO about assurance levels and where they are projected in the long term. He must also ask the CISO about assessment of the current security posture.”
Anoop Das, Enterprise Manager, Middle East & India, Mimecast, “The CEO should be well-aware that the CISO owns the cyber-resilience strategy. He should ask the CISO if the strategy is being regularly tested and what kind of resilience drills it is being subjected to.”
Sudhir Kanvinde, Executive Director, IT, IPA, Ministry of Shipping, GOI, “The CEO is most concerned with business continuity, the brand and the bottom-line. Therefore, the CEO should be asking the CISO how well the organisation is covered in terms of business continuity.”
Sunil Dhaka, COO, ARCON, “Are we prepared to meet the existing and/or new threats that the organisation is being exposed to? That is the main question a CEO needs to ask the CISO.”
Naresh Kumar, AVP, Cybersecurity, DBS Bank, “The CEO is always focused on the brand value of the organisation. Therefore, it is natural that the CEO will ask the CISO about how secure the organisation really is from cyber threats. He/she will ask if the investments that the business is making in cybersecurity and information security are being leveraged adequately to meet the business objectives.”
Mandar Kulkarni, CISO, Grasim Industries, “What are the key cybersecurity risks that our business is facing? How well are we prepared to deal with them? How are we mitigating them?”
Mayank Mehta, Head- Information Security, Axis Financial Limited, “How good are we from the security perspective and the data security perspective with respect to our peers? How well are we faring in our industry?”
Shreyas Vyas, Head of IT, Compuage Infocom Ltd, “Are you 100% secure in all areas? Are we facing any threats? These are the pivotal questions that a CEO must ask his/her CISO.”
For more information on future Wisdom of Crowds events, sponsorship opportunities or participation in a Wisdom of Crowds event, contact rajiv@cm-alliance.com or contact us today. To watch more highlights from the Mumbai Wisdom of Crowds event, click here.
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