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HOW C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES CAN LEAD THE WAY IN CYBERSECURITY
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on July 22, 2017
12 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on July 22, 2017
12 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
By Chris Riley, President of U.S. Operations, SSH Communications Security
Chris Riley,
The need for cybersecurity is clear and critical, yet it still meets with quiet resistance in some quarters. Why? It is notorious for interfering with the flow of business. It’s easy to view data security efforts as a cost center that slows down business and frustrates employees, users and customers alike. C-level executives need to be aware of how their organizations’ security measures affect business processes and productivity.
Cybersecurity is far too important a topic to simply assign responsibility for it to the chief security officer, chief information security officer or IT team. C-suite executives with non-technical backgrounds might see the iceberg ahead, but do they really understand the size of the problem below the surface? Failing to take responsibility here is a potentially disastrous mistake.
Security is Everyone’s Job
Demonstrating the importance of cybersecurity is a top-down affair. If executive leadership is not involved directly, it can give the impression that cybersecurity is not a number one priority; employees can do it tomorrow or whenever they have time. When the board or CEO starts asking the management team about what measures the company has in place to avoid becoming a headline, then there’s a much bigger chance of real change taking place.
If leaders don’t read the current cybersecurity atmosphere properly, they could be headed for dire consequences. The boardroom is placing the responsibility for cybersecurity squarely on the C-suite’s shoulders. As we have seen in recent headlines, a particularly bad public data breach can ruin a CEO’s career. As enterprises and government agencies are required to follow GDPR (see below) and other cybersecurity guidelines, more than just the CEO will be targeted for replacement.
Spotlight: GDPR
The deadline is fast approaching for compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will take effect in May 2018. This regulation will have a major impact on the European Union and international companies with access to European citizens’ sensitive data. The GDPR expands the definition of sensitive data to include online identifiers, such as an IP address or cookies.
In short, organizations must account for all sensitive data and the access granted to it. If a company is found to be in violation of GDPR, it can be fined up to four percent of annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater. This maximum fine is issued for the most serious infringements, such as not having sufficient customer consent to process data or violating the core of Privacy by Design concepts. There is a tiered approach to fines for lesser offenses, but the monetary amount is still painful. C-level executives can help their companies avoid that pain and brand damage by committing to taking an active role in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity Strategies
Now is the time for executives to dive in and gain a detailed understanding of the company’s cybersecurity efforts. The following best practices are a good place to start:
Security Builds Trust
Those who put in the extra effort will be rewarded with a safer organization. Conversely, if your network gets infected and your servers go down, that downtime will have a disastrous effect on your company’s bottom line, not to mention the sustained operational costs and damage to reputation.
Without trust, businesses do not flourish or grow. Trust must be built into your company’s solutions, products and services. By leading from the top down, the C-suite can help ensure that the organization is protected appropriately while maintaining performance and ensuring that security measures do not disrupt operations in any way. Once the C-suite has established a security game plan for the organization and is confident that the team is performing on the right level, you can trust in your critical information flow and sleep better at night.
The Cybersecurity Mandate
People are reluctant to do business with or invest in companies they don’t trust. The massive breaches of the last several years shine a bright light on the topic of corporate cybersecurity, and the responsibility for it lies squarely on the shoulders of the C-suite. Executives cannot afford to ignore this foundational aspect of company success – for their own sake as well as that of their business.
Chris Riley has worked in IT and information security for more than 20 years. His experience in markets for identity assurance, data security, governance and risk management is extensive. At SSH, Chris is responsible for all U.S. business operations, including customer success and marketing. Chris is passionate about the work being done by SSH customers and associates regarding governance for trusted access and how that makes the world a safer place given the evolving threat landscape. Prior to joining SSH, Chris spent more than 10 years at RSA Security in various leadership roles around enterprise sales and customer success. Chris is a graduate of Merrimack College in North Andover, MA, where he majored in finance and minored in economics. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Northeastern University in Boston.
By Chris Riley, President of U.S. Operations, SSH Communications Security
Chris Riley,
The need for cybersecurity is clear and critical, yet it still meets with quiet resistance in some quarters. Why? It is notorious for interfering with the flow of business. It’s easy to view data security efforts as a cost center that slows down business and frustrates employees, users and customers alike. C-level executives need to be aware of how their organizations’ security measures affect business processes and productivity.
Cybersecurity is far too important a topic to simply assign responsibility for it to the chief security officer, chief information security officer or IT team. C-suite executives with non-technical backgrounds might see the iceberg ahead, but do they really understand the size of the problem below the surface? Failing to take responsibility here is a potentially disastrous mistake.
Security is Everyone’s Job
Demonstrating the importance of cybersecurity is a top-down affair. If executive leadership is not involved directly, it can give the impression that cybersecurity is not a number one priority; employees can do it tomorrow or whenever they have time. When the board or CEO starts asking the management team about what measures the company has in place to avoid becoming a headline, then there’s a much bigger chance of real change taking place.
If leaders don’t read the current cybersecurity atmosphere properly, they could be headed for dire consequences. The boardroom is placing the responsibility for cybersecurity squarely on the C-suite’s shoulders. As we have seen in recent headlines, a particularly bad public data breach can ruin a CEO’s career. As enterprises and government agencies are required to follow GDPR (see below) and other cybersecurity guidelines, more than just the CEO will be targeted for replacement.
Spotlight: GDPR
The deadline is fast approaching for compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will take effect in May 2018. This regulation will have a major impact on the European Union and international companies with access to European citizens’ sensitive data. The GDPR expands the definition of sensitive data to include online identifiers, such as an IP address or cookies.
In short, organizations must account for all sensitive data and the access granted to it. If a company is found to be in violation of GDPR, it can be fined up to four percent of annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater. This maximum fine is issued for the most serious infringements, such as not having sufficient customer consent to process data or violating the core of Privacy by Design concepts. There is a tiered approach to fines for lesser offenses, but the monetary amount is still painful. C-level executives can help their companies avoid that pain and brand damage by committing to taking an active role in cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity Strategies
Now is the time for executives to dive in and gain a detailed understanding of the company’s cybersecurity efforts. The following best practices are a good place to start:
Security Builds Trust
Those who put in the extra effort will be rewarded with a safer organization. Conversely, if your network gets infected and your servers go down, that downtime will have a disastrous effect on your company’s bottom line, not to mention the sustained operational costs and damage to reputation.
Without trust, businesses do not flourish or grow. Trust must be built into your company’s solutions, products and services. By leading from the top down, the C-suite can help ensure that the organization is protected appropriately while maintaining performance and ensuring that security measures do not disrupt operations in any way. Once the C-suite has established a security game plan for the organization and is confident that the team is performing on the right level, you can trust in your critical information flow and sleep better at night.
The Cybersecurity Mandate
People are reluctant to do business with or invest in companies they don’t trust. The massive breaches of the last several years shine a bright light on the topic of corporate cybersecurity, and the responsibility for it lies squarely on the shoulders of the C-suite. Executives cannot afford to ignore this foundational aspect of company success – for their own sake as well as that of their business.
Chris Riley has worked in IT and information security for more than 20 years. His experience in markets for identity assurance, data security, governance and risk management is extensive. At SSH, Chris is responsible for all U.S. business operations, including customer success and marketing. Chris is passionate about the work being done by SSH customers and associates regarding governance for trusted access and how that makes the world a safer place given the evolving threat landscape. Prior to joining SSH, Chris spent more than 10 years at RSA Security in various leadership roles around enterprise sales and customer success. Chris is a graduate of Merrimack College in North Andover, MA, where he majored in finance and minored in economics. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Northeastern University in Boston.
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