The role of the chief information security officer (CISO) is more important than ever in an era of mainstream digital advances, a growing number of employees working remotely, and the constant threat of cyberattacks. .
However, the complexity and sophistication of cyber threats requires a multi-layered approach to strengthen an organization’s defenses. To usher in this new era of robust cybersecurity, we are seeing the rise of Security Assurance Officers (SAOs) who work in tandem with CISOs.
Traditionally, CISOs have served as guardians of their organizations’ digital fortresses, with responsibilities such as setting policies, implementing security measures, and coordinating incident response strategies. However, the dynamic nature of cyber threats requires a proactive approach that goes beyond simple policy development. This is where SAO comes in and focuses on the continuous validation and assurance of an organization’s security posture.
This relatively new role acts as an assurance body tasked with regularly testing, evaluating and validating the effectiveness of the security measures in place. SAO provides real-time insights into an organization’s security resilience through risk assessments, vulnerability analysis, and cyber attack simulations. This proactive approach not only identifies potential weaknesses, but also enables rapid remediation before malicious attackers can exploit them.
collaboration is key
We’re seeing a growing trend among organizations to keep critical services behind their firewalls and host other services in the cloud. As a result, hybrid environments for specific services have emerged. In such environments, a robust network access solution becomes essential to mediating and securing connections, and determining the appropriateness of connections based on the specific context and circumstances. Additionally, endpoint protection is becoming more of a concern.
That’s why SAO and CISO collaboration is critical, creating seamless synergy between strategic security planning and practical validation. While CISOs focus on comprehensive security policies and frameworks, SAOs thoroughly test policies to ensure they can withstand the ever-evolving threat environment and address associated risks.
But there are two sides to risk. First, the probability of attack and its impact. Recovery time and extent of tissue damage are then important considerations. This has led to increased interest and investment in minimizing the impact of attacks, and an increased emphasis on how quickly organizations can recover. However, one of the most significant challenges organizations face in practice is the devastating impact that threats such as malware and ransomware have on endpoints. This factor greatly impacts the recovery process and emphasizes the importance of quickly rebuilding affected endpoints.
dedicated focus
The introduction of SAO reflects the growing recognition of the need for a dedicated role dedicated to security validation. This specialization enables us to develop deep expertise in the latest attack vectors, threat intelligence, and cutting-edge defense strategies. Additionally, we recognize that cybersecurity is not a one-time implementation, but an ongoing, dynamic process that requires continuous adaptation.
As organizations become more reliant on digital infrastructure and data, collaboration between CISOs and SAOs is key to success. This collaborative approach strengthens an organization’s cyber resilience by addressing vulnerabilities before they are exploited and minimizing the impact of potential breaches. Additionally, tools and processes must be in place to recover and mitigate the actual impact of an attack.
Spending on cybersecurity and risk management in Australia is set to increase by around 11.5% in 2024, but CISOs will need to prove that their security controls are working as expected. Given the continued downward pressure on budgets, investing in security infrastructure that can provide greater visibility and verification is critical.
In fact, SAOs can often be tasked with reducing the complexity introduced by the increasing amount of tools available. In fact, Absolute Software has been arguing for some time that complexity is a hurdle in your security posture. Our vision is now expressed through a new cybersecurity category introduced by Gartner. Automated Security Control Assessment (ASCA). Gartner defines ASCA as a process and technology focused on analyzing and remediating misconfigurations in security controls that improves an enterprise’s security posture.
The good news is that the emergence of SAO signals a paradigm shift in cybersecurity strategy. This role works with the CISO to ensure security measures are not just theoretical, but rigorously tested and validated in the face of an ever-evolving digital threat landscape.
As cyber threats continue to evolve in 2024, the collaborative efforts of CISOs and SAOs will help protect organizations’ defenses, increase resilience, and provide a stronger foundation for a thriving digital economy. It will definitely play an important role.