Roles and Responsibilities of a CISO

CISO is a high-level role in securing the data and information of the organization. The role has been created and initiated due to the evolving threats to the organization’s data security. They act as consultants to the board of directors regarding security threats, issues, and regulatory compliance measures.

Table of Contents

What is a CISO?
CISO Responsibilities
The CISO, the CIO, and the CTO
CISO Requirements
CISO Certifications
Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
CISO Salary

What is a CISO?

CISO stands for Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), is responsible for implementing the proper governance and security practices. They are also responsible for executing a security framework for risk-free and scalable business operations. A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) can handle different job tasks and responsibilities based on the hierarchy, vertical, and organizational regulations.

CISO Responsibilities

The day-to-day responsibilities of a CISO might vary based on the organization’s job title. The responsibilities of a CISO can spread over the following functional domain of the organization:

• Cyber risk and cyber intelligence: Monitoring the developing security threats and assisting the board members in understanding the potential security issues that could arise from data acquisitions
• Security operations: Real-time analysis of threats and intervening when something goes wrong
• Data loss and fraud prevention: Ensuring that the internal staff does not misuse the data
• Identity and access management: Ensuring that only authorized people can access the restricted data and systems
• Security architecture: Planning and purchasing security hardware and software and ensuring IT and network infrastructure is designed with best security practices
• Investigations and forensics: Identifying and defining the cause of the breach, handling with internal parties, and planning to avoid a repetition of the same cyber incident
• Program management: Implementing security measures that mitigate cyber risks, such as regular system patches, etc.
• Governance: Ensuring all of the above initiatives run smoothly, receive the necessary funds, and understand the importance of each initiative.

The CISO, the CIO, and the CTO

In small-scale organizations, the above responsibilities of a CISO are delegated to a Chief Information Officer (CIO) or the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) instead of a separate CISO position. These professionals are responsible for managing security norms while taking up new digital transformation initiatives. They should analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the organization to adapt to them before a security incident happens.

CISO Requirements

The basic requirements to become a CISO professional are as follows:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or Computer Science-related domains is required. MBA is preferable
• Over seven years of experience in handling Information security, Risk management, cybersecurity technologies, and strategies
• Strong understanding of current data privacy laws, GDPS, and regional standards
• Good knowledge of source code and scripting programming languages such as C, C++, Java, and .NET
• Excellent project management skills and leadership skills in handling projects
• Good knowledge of information security management frameworks such as NIST, SANS, CERT, ISO/IEC, etc.
• Good negotiation skills for negotiating contracts and IT support services
• Excellent communication skills and high-quality written skills

CISO Certifications

As per the requirements of this position, there is not just one certification to become a CISO professional. If you want to become a CISO, earning certifications will help increase your selection chances. If you are in a CISO position, training and courses will help you update your skills.

The following are some of the well-known CISO certifications:

Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO)

CCISO certification offered by EC-Council includes over five core domains that help to achieve proficiency in management strategy:

• Governance and risk management
• Information security compliance, controls, and audit management
• Security program operations and management
• Information security core concepts
• Strategic planning, finance, and vendor management

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

CISSP certification offered by (ISC)2 includes eight core domains:

• Security and risk management
• Asset security
• Security architecture and engineering
• Communication and network security
• Identity and access management (IAM)
• Security assessment and testing
• Security operations
• Software development security

TRAINING CALENDAR of Upcoming Batches For CISSP

Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

CISM certification is offered by ISACA, which is the most popular certification in cybersecurity management that includes over four domains:

• Information security management
• Information risk management and compliance
• Information security program development and management
• Information security incident management

TRAINING CALENDAR of Upcoming Batches For CISM

CISO Salary

CISO is a high-level job role, and as per a report, CISOs in Pennsylvania, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Massachusetts, and Illinois are earning the highest salaries. As of this writing, Glassdoor has researched that entry-level CISOs can get an average salary of $105,000 per annum. Professionals with four years of experience can earn around $120,000 per annum, and a highly experienced CISO can earn up to $247,000 per annum.

CISO with InfosecTrain

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is a high-level profile, so it is justified if the employers seek related certifications that could add value to your resume. Professional CISO training and certifications such as CISSP, CISM, and CEH will help advance your career and differentiate you from other candidates. These certifications reinforce the required skills for the CISO profession.

InfosecTrain offers an instructor-led training program that covers all the necessary domains of the CISO profession. If you want to grab this training course and get certified, you can check out and enroll for Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO) training that will help you to crack the certification exam.

TRAINING CALENDAR of Upcoming Batches For CCISO

AUTHOR
Emaliya Keerthana
Content Writer

“ Emaliya Keerthana working as a Content Writer at InfosecTrain. She likes to explore the latest technology. She writes on emerging IT-related topics and is passionate about sharing her thoughts through blogs. “