Dark Reading Radio: The Changing Role Of The CISO

If you were creating a security organization from scratch, would you put it under the umbrella of the IT organization or make it an independent department with a direct line of communication to the executive suite?  

The issue of whether the traditional, hierarchical relationship between a company’s top technology officers -- the CIO and CISO – is still valid was starkly brought into view this past March with the resignation of Target CIO Beth Jacobs in the wake of the retailer’s now infamous data breach. One of the many questions raised by the Target breach is who should ultimately be responsible for data security. Is it the CIO who is typically tasked with broadly managing the entire IT infrastructure of an organization, or the CISO, whose job it is to protect the data and information contained within those systems.

In our next episode of Dark Reading Radio, we’ll discuss the evolution of the CISO and whether today’s organizational structures offer the best way to manage risk and defend against data breaches and attacks. Our guests are CIO Bob Quinn and CSO Rick Howard of Palo Alto Networks, and Steve Durbin, Managing Director of the Information Security Forum. Among the topics we’ll explore:

I hope you'll join our show and offer your insights and opinions to the conversation. You can post your comments and questions below or bring them to the Dark Reading radio studio on Wednesday where you can participate directly through online chat.  Please note, you’ll need to register for the broadcast to participate. I look forward to seeing you there.