Essential Traits Every IT Security Pro Should Have

Essential Traits Every IT Security Pro Should Have

Essential Traits Every IT Security Pro Should Have

Every major epidemic begins with a “patient zero,” and it's no different with cyber-security. These traits can help prevent an infection before it takes root.

Be Forward-Looking: Understand the New Threat Landscape

Digital enterprises today are not sufficiently protected from cyber-attacks. CISOs need to address a whole range of attacks and threats.

Be Strategic: Build a Zone of Trust

CISOs need to assure customers that communications are actually coming from their company and not a brand imposter. Create a zone of trust in which customers can be certain that any link they click and any correspondence they respond to returns to your company.

Be Comprehensive: Look Beyond Your Perimeter

IT security leaders should look far beyond their immediate perimeter to a far-out, event horizon where off-the-radar threats, like infrastructure holes and malware, may threaten their security.

Be Vigilant: Patrol Your Online Identity

Aggressively mitigate and clean up your brand name online. Result: Attackers won't see you as quite so vulnerable, you'll become a less lucrative target, and then, hopefully, you'll fall off your attackers' radars.

Be Meticulous: Teach Basic Best Practices

Every major epidemic begins with a “patient zero.” It's no different with cyber-security; even sprawling attacks originate from a single, compromised point-of-entry - often through a phishing email or rogue mobile app.

The Power of No: Say ‘Don't'

If you educate your team in the power of “don't” - don't click unfamiliar links, don't download documents and don't respond to communications you don't recognize - your employees will be less likely to cause a headline-grabbing breach.

Be Prepared: Maintain a Clearly Defined List of Goals

Even though cyber-preparedness is now a board-level issue, most CISOs have little day-to-day access to the executive committee. They report to the CIO or CFO and often function as a service organization instead of a strategic one. Yet they are held accountable by the executive team when something goes wrong.

Be Ready to Answer

To meet lofty board and C-suite expectations, be ready when the braintrust of your organization comes looking for answers. That means having an expanded agenda, innovative ideas and a list of goals.