Some strategies for CISOs freaked out by the specter of federal indictments

CISOs can protect themselves by making responsibilities clear

With cyber incidents becoming more frequent and prominent, the role of CISOs has become a lightning rod. “Historically, the risk calculus was bad stuff happens, I’m going to get fired, I’ll go on to my next job,” said Charles Blauner, partner and CISO in residence at Team8 Ventures, during the panel.

“You’ve never thought the risk calculus is [that] bad stuff happens, my family gets bankrupted, I might go to jail, and I will never work again. That’s a very different risk calculus,” Blauner said.

“The heat is up because the reality is you’ve got these entities in government who are responding to a huge rise in cybercrime in a way that no one can hide. It’s not like in the old days when if an incident happened, most people wouldn’t notice when stuff happens. Today, the whole world notices,” he said.