How Board Members Can Address the Cyber Risk Crisis

by Axio on March 1, 2022

“Cybersecurity is an existential crisis for Governments and Businesses alike.” – Bob Dudley, Former CEO of BP & Chairman of the Board at Axio

As the face of a company’s cybersecurity program, its CISO is often viewed by the public as the party responsible when a cyber-attack occurs. However, cybersecurity is not just a technical issue but is also a business and fiduciary issue. Ultimately, responsibility for making cyber risk management decisions falls squarely in the hands of the Board of Directors – who can be held personally or criminally liable in the face of a data breach. It is their duty to protect the business and ensure the sustainability of the organization. Yet, many Board members struggle to wrap their arms around cyber risk when faced with making costly decisions around security priorities and technology investments. Cybersecurity planning is challenging and can quickly become unwieldy regardless of your budget, and Boards need to know how a security incident will affect their company’s growth, shareholders’ value, and customer relationships.

Board members should be aware of ways to reduce their company’s exposure to cyber risk and should be aware of the potential costs of a data breach. Tools like the Axio360 platform are integral to bridging the knowledge gap between technical tedium and actionable business decisions. Our Board of Directors’ guide, Getting the Board Game Right, outlines our qualitative, risk-based approach to cybersecurity and why this approach works. We also detail the Axio360 platform’s Board of Directors Report, which is designed for an audience of Board members and provides a bird’s eye view of your company’s cyber risk landscape. Axio360 is a decision support system for business leaders that lays out evidence of due diligence by measuring security risk in terms of dollars, maturity-based evaluation frameworks, recovery posture, and peer benchmarking.

Fundamentally, Board members know how to run a business and manage finances, but to be successful, Board leadership must have coherency around cyber risk reporting and mitigation strategies. Axio has compiled an in-depth guide, where we walk you through each component of the Board of Directors Report generated via the Axio360 platform, including:

Clear Reporting – qualitative data in clear visuals demonstrate your company’s cyber risk in business terms and aligns your decisions to your financial posture
Emerging Threats – proactively view expected risk scenarios and how they could uniquely impact your business before it is too late
Peer Benchmarking – inform your roadmap and see how you measure up to your peers with defensible, transparent data
Prioritized Improvements – get a running summary of key program enhancements that are prioritized based on the ROI of each investment

Axio360’s Board of Directors report provides greater visibility into your existing security state and helps you match your security investments with cyber risks. Board members want to know what events are most impactful, and our tool gives you confidence that your investments are focused on the right areas.

To learn more, check out the full Board of Directors Guide here.