What does a CISO do? Meet the Chief Information Security Officer: a beautiful but demanding position.

Redazione RHC : 24 July 2025 18:50

How many times have we heard this acronym: CISO? But how many of us don’t know precisely what it means or have little in-depth knowledge of what a Chief Information Security Officer does?

This professional is the guardian of digital security within a modern company, responsible for protecting corporate data, ensuring that sensitive information is safe from internal and external threats, whether malicious or accidental.

In this article, we will explore the role of the CISO in depth, analyzing their primary responsibilities and the skills needed to successfully fulfill this vital role. The CISO’s mission is twofold: to ensure that the company is protected from potential threats and, at the same time, to enable sustainable growth through the secure use of digital assets.

In an era where data privacy and information protection are key topics, understanding what a CISO does and how they operate can offer a clearer picture of how organizations defend themselves from evolving cyber threats.

The main responsibilities of the CISO

As we’ve seen, the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is responsible for information security within an organization. His responsibilities go far beyond simply managing firewalls and antivirus software. The CISO is charged with establishing a robust cybersecurity strategy and ensuring it is implemented across the enterprise.

Here are some of the key responsibilities of a CISO:

1. Developing Security Policies and Procedures: One of the CISO’s primary responsibilities is creating and implementing cybersecurity policies and procedures. These guidelines establish how data and systems should be protected, as well as the measures to be taken in the event of a security breach.
2. Cyber Risk Analysis: Risk assessment is a fundamental part of the CISO’s work, as all actions supporting the organization will be based on this analysis. He or she must constantly identify and assess security risks, prioritizing improvement and mitigation actions.
3. Security Team Management: The CISO coordinates the cybersecurity staff and plays a key role in their training and development. Ensures that security specialists are well-trained and prepared to meet the increasingly complex challenges of this field;
4. Threat and Incident Management: The CISO must constantly monitor cyber threats and respond promptly to security incidents. This may include managing cyber attacks, resolving security issues, and mitigating the damage resulting from a cybersecurity incident;
5. Cybersecurity Budget Management: The CISO is responsible for managing the budget (money) allocated to cybersecurity activities within a company. They must effectively balance financial resources to ensure that the necessary funds are available to implement the appropriate security solutions and technologies, as well as conduct a careful analysis of the expected merits and benefits;
6. Regulatory Compliance: The CISO must ensure that the organization complies with the laws and regulations in force, in the reference geographical area, relating to information security. This may include laws such as the GDPR in Europe or HIPAA in the United States. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in serious penalties;
7. Collaboration with other company departments: The CISO works closely with other departments, such as IT, legal, and human resources, to ensure integrated security management. Effective communication is essential for cybersecurity;
8. Developing Incident Response Plans: Together with the team, the CISO develops incident response plans that guide the actions to be taken in the event of a security breach. These plans help minimize damage and restore system integrity;
9. Technology surveillance: The CISO must maintain an up-to-date knowledge of new technologies and emerging threats in order to take the right preventive measures through timely mitigations or remediation;
10. Reporting to management: The CISO must provide regular cybersecurity reports to company management, explaining the measures taken, the progress made, and the risks identified.

These are just some of the main responsibilities of a CISO. In summary, we can draw a parallel by reporting that the CISO is the guardian of information security, committed to protecting the company from cyber threats and ensuring that cyber security is a strategic priority in the organization.

The CISO within a large organization

The CISO is therefore responsible for defining and implementing security policies and procedures, as well as managing cyber threats. Let’s see how the CISO fits within a large organization.

1. Directives and authority: To carry out his role effectively, the CISO must have clear and defined authority. In many organizations, the CISO reports directly to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or Chief Information Officer (CIO), since cybersecurity is closely tied to information technology and systems. However, in some cases, especially in companies with a strong emphasis on security, the CISO may report directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the Board of Directors (BOD). This will depend on the specific organizational culture and structure.

2. Key Stakeholders: The CISO interacts with various stakeholders inside and outside the organization. Some of the key stakeholders are:

• The Cybersecurity Team: The CISO works closely with his cybersecurity team, leading the day-to-day activities of protecting information and systems;
• The IT Department: The CISO must collaborate with the IT department to ensure that technology infrastructures are configured securely and that internal cybersecurity policies that incorporate cybersecurity best practices are implemented;
• The Board or CTO: The CISO regularly reports to executive management through reports that show the challenges, progress, and plans to improve the organization’s cybersecurity;
• Legal: In many situations, the CISO must work closely with the legal department to manage issues related to data privacy, security breaches, and regulatory compliance;
• Human Resources: The CISO collaborates with the human resources department to ensure good security hygiene among employees, for example through cybersecurity and access management training programs or for recruiting within the function;
• Internal/External Control Systems: The CISO is often involved in security reviews, collaborating with internal auditors or external and regulatory authorities to demonstrate compliance with security regulations;
• Business partners and suppliers: The CISO must manage relationships with business partners and suppliers to ensure that they also comply with the required security standards;
• Customers: In sectors with high personal data involvement, such as the healthcare industry or the financial sector, the CISO must establish customer trust by demonstrating a commitment to data security.

The CISO, therefore, acts as a bridge between different functions within the organization and must balance technology, risk management and regulatory needs to ensure a secure environment for business operations. Its strategic position is crucial to address growing cyber threats and ensure information security in an increasingly complex digital world.

Is it always the CISO’s fault?

The role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is associated with every responsibility for cybersecurity within an organization, but is this really the case in reality?

It is crucial to consider that, although the CISO plays a key role in protecting corporate data, the concept of “zero risk” in cybersecurity is an elusive prospect. Now we’ll explore some factors that can answer the chapter’s question:

• The “Scapegoat” Challenge: After a cyberattack, it’s common to look for a culprit, and all too often the CISO ends up being the target of criticism. This tendency is understandable but not always justified. Cybersecurity is a complex discipline, and the CISO must contend with constantly evolving threats, limited resources, and difficult decisions;
• The “Zero Risk” Concept: It’s also important to recognize that in today’s reality, zero risk is an unattainable goal. Attackers are constantly looking for new ways to infiltrate systems and exploit vulnerabilities. While the CISO can take rigorous measures, the concept of “zero risk” remains a difficult ideal to achieve.
• Contextualize Security Incidents: Rather than looking for a scapegoat, it is important to consider the context in which a security incident occurred. Security decisions often involve trade-offs between security, budget, and functionality, and risk management is a key part of the CISO’s role.
• Demonstrate Due Diligence: Rather than looking for culprits, it is more constructive to focus on demonstrating “due diligence”. This means that the CISO must demonstrate that he or she has done everything possible to prevent a specific security incident. This may include implementing security measures, training employees, adopting rigorous policies, and complying with data security regulations;
• The Concept of “Shared Responsibility”: Today, the traditional view of cybersecurity is evolving. Cybersecurity is no longer the sole responsibility of the information security department, but involves the entire company. There is increasing talk of “shared responsibility,” in which all departments of the company and its employees are considered an integral part of cybersecurity;
• The Key Role of DevSecOps: Within the context of “shared responsibility,” the concept of DevSecOps emerges, which integrates security from the early stages of software development right through to the operation of an ICT platform. This approach implies that developers, operators, and security managers collaborate to identify and address vulnerabilities right from the design phase.

As we have seen, automatically attributing blame for a cyberattack to the CISO could be unfair and counterproductive. Cybersecurity is a complex and ever-evolving discipline, and the CISO works tirelessly to reduce risk. Instead of looking for culprits, it is more useful to focus on demonstrating due diligence in ensuring the security of corporate data and promoting “shared responsibility” throughout the organization. Cybersecurity is a collective challenge, this is what we must focus on.

Qualifications and Skills Required to Become a CISO

The role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) requires a unique combination of skills, education, and experience. As the senior figure responsible for cybersecurity in an organization, the CISO must possess a solid foundation of technical knowledge, management skills, and a deep understanding of cybersecurity challenges. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the qualifications and skills required to become a CISO:

• Academic Background: Many CISOs have a bachelor’s degree in an information technology-related field, such as computer science, computer engineering, or cybersecurity. However, a background in engineering, mathematics, or even business management can be just as valuable, especially if combined with experience in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity, as we know, isn’t a subject based on “qualifications,” but rather on knowledge gained in the field. Therefore, it’s not uncommon to find CISOs without a college degree with skills unmatched by other CISOs with a college degree;
• Practical Experience: As mentioned above, experience and practice are essential to becoming a great CISO. Often, CISOs have worked in technical cybersecurity roles for many years, gaining practical skills in threat management, risk assessment, and implementing security solutions. It’s not uncommon to meet CISOs who previously held technical roles within Red and Blue Teams and then, gaining managerial skills, moved into the CISO profession.
• Certifications: Cybersecurity certifications, such as CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), and CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor), are recommended and may be a requirement for many CISO positions. These certifications demonstrate specific skills and a solid foundation of cybersecurity knowledge, although there are some excellent CISOs who don’t have any certifications.
• Technical Skills: A CISO must have in-depth knowledge of cybersecurity technologies, including networks, encryption, security policies, antivirus and firewall solutions, and data protection procedures. It’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest technologies and emerging cyber threats.
• Management Skills: A CISO is not just a technical expert but also a leader. Must have advanced management skills, including strategic planning, staff management, budget management, and the ability to communicate effectively with various departments within the company;
• Regulatory understanding: Since many organizations must comply with specific regulations, the CISO must have a deep understanding of cybersecurity laws and regulations, such as the GDPR in Europe or the NIST Framework in the United States;
• Risk assessment skills: The CISO must be able to identify and assess security risks, establishing priorities and developing risk mitigation plans;
• Communication skills: The ability Communicating clearly and persuasively is essential to the CISO profession. The CISO must be able to explain cybersecurity challenges in a way that executive management and non-experts can understand, helping to gain the right support for security initiatives;
• Ethics and integrity: The CISO profession requires a high degree of ethics and integrity, as it often handles highly sensitive and confidential information;
• Constantly updated: One of the key qualities of CISOs is curiosity and constant updating on new cyber threats. CISOs must commit to staying constantly updated on new threats and best practices to ensure information security.

Becoming a CISO requires commitment, dedication, and extensive training, but it can be a highly rewarding career for those who are passionate about cybersecurity and ready to take on the ever-changing challenges of this rapidly evolving field.

The importance of regulatory compliance and the CISO

Regulatory compliance is a crucial aspect of cybersecurity in many organizations, especially in highly regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and utilities. The Chief Information Security Officer plays a key role in ensuring that the company complies with specific laws and regulations related to data and information security. In this chapter, we will explore the importance of regulatory compliance and the role of the CISO in this context.

• Protecting sensitive data: Data security regulations, such as the GDPR in Europe or the CCPA in California, place specific obligations on organizations to ensure the protection of personal data. The CISO is responsible for developing policies and procedures that meet these regulations, ensuring that sensitive data is adequately protected;
• Minimizing legal and financial risks: Failure to comply with regulations can result in serious legal and financial consequences, including substantial fines and reputational damage. The CISOs work to minimize these risks by ensuring that the organization complies with data security laws and other relevant regulations.
• Privacy Ensuring: Data security regulations are often related to protecting customer and user privacy. The CISO helps create an environment where people’s privacy is at the center, helping to build customer trust;
• Managing internal processes: Regulatory compliance often requires the definition of specific business processes and procedures. The CISO works to define and implement these new procedures across the organization, ensuring they are followed consistently;
• Demonstrating accountability: Regulatory compliance demonstrates the organization’s responsibility towards customer and user data. This responsibility is critical to the company’s image and can be a competitive advantage.
• Preparing for audits: Organizations that must comply with regulations are subject to reviews by regulators and external auditors. The CISO plays a key role in preparing for these reviews, ensuring that the organization is ready to demonstrate regulatory compliance.
• Adopting best practices: Regulations often require the implementation of cybersecurity best practices. The CISO is responsible for ensuring that these best practices are integrated into the company’s operating environment. The CISO is responsible for ensuring that these best practices are integrated into the company’s operating environment.

In summary, the CISO plays a critical role in ensuring that the organization complies with data and information security regulations. Compliance is not only a legal issue, but also helps protect the company’s reputation and ensure customer trust.

Tools and technologies used by CISOs

In the role of Chief Information Security Officer, the use of advanced tools and technologies is essential to ensure the organization’s cybersecurity. In this chapter, we’ll explore some of the key tools and technologies that CISOs use to protect corporate information and data:

• Advanced Firewalls: Firewalls are one of the most important defense tools in cybersecurity. CISOs often use firewalls of different nature (WAF, NGFW, standard FW) that can perform deep traffic inspection and recognize and block advanced threats, such as intrusions or malware;
• Threat Detection Solutions: CISOs employ threat detection systems (Intrusion Detection Systems or IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (Intrusion Prevention Systems or IPS) to identify and respond to suspicious activity or intrusions within corporate systems. These tools constantly monitor network traffic for anomalous behavior;
• Security Controls: In order to understand whether the organization’s cyber posture is consistent with the issued procedures, CISOs can carry out control activities through Red Team personnel. These control activities (generally Vulnerability Assessmentt or Penetration Test, but can also lead to tailgating tests that we have seen recently) allow a system security assessment to identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited by attackers, as well as processes not implemented correctly by IT functions;
• Advanced antivirus software: Antivirus software is essential for protecting devices from malware and other threats. CISOs implement advanced antivirus solutions that can recognize and combat new malware variants;
• Mobile device security: With the growing prevalence of mobile devices, CISOs must implement security solutions for smartphones and tablets. These tools help you protect corporate data on mobile devices and manage security policies;
• Encryption Tools: Encryption is essential to protect sensitive data. CISOs use encryption tools to protect communication, stored data, and devices;
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): Identity and Access Management, or IAM, systems help you manage access to corporate resources. CISOs implement IAM solutions to ensure that only authorized people can access certain data and systems.
• Log Management Systems: CISOs must constantly monitor activity in their systems. Log management systems record and analyze events, allowing them to detect suspicious behavior or security breaches.
• Cloud-Based Security: With the growing use of cloud services, CISOs implement cloud security solutions to protect data and applications stored in cloud environments.
• Behavioral Analytics: Behavioral analytics use artificial intelligence to identify anomalous behavior of internal (insider) or external users or devices. This helps identify insider threats or targeted attacks.
• Incident Response Tools: CISOs must be prepared to handle security incidents. Incident response tools help you quickly respond to attacks, contain damage, and restore system integrity.

These are just a few examples of the tools and technologies CISOs use to protect organizations from cyber threats. The effective use of these tools, coupled with a robust security strategy or what we often refer to as a “cyber program,” is essential to ensuring a safe and secure environment for corporate data and information.

The Stress of Being a CISO

The role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is one of the most demanding and stressful positions in business. While the CISO is responsible for ensuring the security of corporate information, he or she is also exposed to a variety of challenges and pressures that can lead to a significant level of stress. In this chapter, we’ll explore the sources of stress related to the CISO’s job and strategies for addressing them.

• Constant Security Pressure: The CISO is responsible for protecting corporate information from a wide range of ever-evolving cyber threats. This constant pressure to maintain a secure environment can lead to high levels of stress. Every new vulnerability or threat requires an immediate response.
• Regulatory Compliance Obligations: Organizations must comply with a variety of data security regulations, each with specific requirements. The CISO must ensure that the organization complies with these regulations, which can be a complex and stressful task, especially in a multi-regional environment.
• Internal and External Threats: The CISO must address both internal and external threats. Internal threats can arise from rogue employees or inadvertent human error. External threats can come from cyber attacks, criminal organizations, or governments. The need to protect against both categories of threats increases the pressure;
• Extended work cycles: Cyber attacks can occur at any time, including after-hours.The CISO often must work beyond office hours to manage security incidents or respond to emergencies;
• Communication with stakeholders: The CISO must communicate regularly with executive management, the board of directors, IT departments, and other stakeholders. Effective communication is essential, but it can be a major stressor, especially when explaining complex cybersecurity issues to a non-technical audience;
• Escalating cyber threats: Cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and advanced. This places increasing pressure on the CISO to constantly stay up-to-date on new threats and take appropriate security measures;
• Reputation risks: In the event of a security breach, the company can suffer significant damage to its reputation. The CISO bears the responsibility of preventing these breaches and must deal with the stress of potentially negatively impacting the company’s reputation.

To address the stress of a CISO’s job, it is essential to adopt stress management strategies. Some suggestions include:

• Achieve a work-life balance: CISOs must work to balance the demands of their job with time for rest and relaxation;
• Develop a support network: Support from peers and industry professionals can be invaluable in addressing these challenges, in addition to the power of delegation;
• Manage workload: Delegating responsibilities and planning work effectively can help avoid excessive workload;
• Keep perspective: Remembering the value of your work in protecting the company can help manage stress.

In conclusion, the job of a CISO is extremely rewarding but can be extremely stressful. By properly managing stress and preparing to meet evolving cybersecurity challenges, the CISO can continue to play a vital role in protecting corporate information.

Conclusions

As we’ve seen, the challenges CISOs face are many, from the growing sophistication of threats to the complexity of data security regulations. All of them require a strategic and proactive approach to cybersecurity. Regulatory compliance, in particular, has become a central issue, and the CISO must work diligently to ensure the organization complies with applicable laws and regulations.

Evolving technologies and the adoption of new solutions, such as artificial intelligence and advanced encryption, offer significant opportunities to improve cybersecurity. However, these new technologies also present new challenges, with attackers seeking to exploit them to their advantage.

Cross-functional collaboration and communication are critical to the CISO’s success. The CISO is not solely responsible for a company’s cybersecurity. The CISO must work closely with IT, legal, HR, and other departments to ensure that security policies are integrated throughout the organization and implemented.

Choosing and using the right tools and technologies are crucial for the CISO. From threat detection solutions to log management systems to advanced encryption, CISOs must have an arsenal of tools to address evolving cyber threats.

The role of CISO is a challenging task that balances leadership, technology, and understanding regulatory challenges. The CISO profession is constantly evolving, but with commitment and dedication, they can ensure a safe and secure environment for every organization’s data and information.