5 Reasons You Can’t Miss This Discussion on Cyber Risk with former BP CEO Bob Dudley

Are your cybersecurity conversations with your board and executive leadership lost in translation? Effective communication is foundational to building, maintaining, and optimizing a cybersecurity program, regardless of company size or sector. As a security leader, if your Board or CEO struggle to understand the state of your organization’s cyber risk posture, you will effectively be fighting an uphill battle for resources, budget, and stakeholder buy-in.

That’s why you can’t miss this conversation with Bob Dudley, retired group CEO of BP and current Chairman of Axio, Rex Thexton, Senior Managing Director of Global Cybersecurity Services at Accenture, and Scott Kannry, CEO and Co-Founder of Axio. Reserve your spot now.

Still not convinced? Here are five quick reasons why you can’t miss it:

1. Cyber-attacks are getting worse, and you need Board buy-in for your security initiatives.

Regardless of urgency, pulling a hypothetical cybersecurity fire alarm in front of the Board is not a practical approach. As CISO, security engineer “speak” is likely your default mode, but you will need to step away from that mentality. Despite the years of experience you’ve spent in a technical mindset, you need to ignore that “security engineer voice” and think in terms of the big picture – shift your thinking from the technical to the strategic. Your CEO is responsible for the company’s profitability, and they will need you to frame your cybersecurity updates (or budget requests) in a way that translates to business terms.

2. Existing approaches aren’t working (stoplights) – so hear Bob give you a different perspective on what he sees.

CEOs need measurable data to justify a cybersecurity budget. While existing approaches like “stoplight” scoring may seem obvious to you as a CISO, you will need to reframe your approach for the CEO so they can understand the value of your proposals in fiduciary terms. Tune in to our webinar to hear Bob outline some tips on communicating with your CEO and cultivating a healthy relationship. While there’s no “Magical Cure” to the challenges CISOs face, dealing with high stress without the support or acceptance of their CEOs or Board can be eased with effective communication.

3. Cybersecurity is the “Issue of the Decade”

In August, Dr. Arvind Krishna, IBM Chair and CEO, remarked that cybersecurity is the “issue of the decade.” Currently there is a significant workforce shortage in cybersecurity, and companies need to start building up and training teams to implement a culture of cybersecurity throughout their organization. We learned from the Colonial Pipeline breach just how expensive an effective attack can be, and playing “catch up” after a security breach is becoming more and more dangerous. Security leaders have no excuse if they are not proactively improving their cybersecurity strategies.

4. Everyone should take cybersecurity seriously – No One is Immune.

Cybersecurity is a “team sport” and requires buy-in from every level of an organization. The truth about cybersecurity today is that data breaches pose a threat to every employee and customer, not just the IT team or C-Suite execs. As CEO, Bob understands that there’s no “winning” against hackers and that cybersecurity requires ongoing vigilance. Cyber attacks are not going anywhere soon, and getting buy-in from your CEO is the first step towards building and implementing a successful cybersecurity strategy.

5. No one is immune, but don’t give up!

Preparing your organization for preventing a cyber-attack may be an uphill battle, but it’s still achievable. We can look at the recent failed attack on the Port of Houston. Cybercriminals are, at their core, business people. If you inconvenience their business by implementing cybersecurity measures, they will move on to find an easier target. Listen as Bob explains how practicing good cyber hygiene and using tools like Axio360 have become critical to helping his organization prevent a successful attack. Simply throwing money at a problem like ransomware is not efficient, and it’s crucial to leverage risk assessment tools when discerning where to focus your attention and budget.

 

Reserve your spot now to make sure that you don’t miss this exciting conversation with Bob Dudley, retired group CEO of BP and current Chairman of Axio, Rex Thexton, Senior Managing Director of Global Cybersecurity Services at Accenture, and Scott Kannry, CEO and Co-Founder of Axio.