In the past, the CSO, or CISO, depending on your organization's language, was a role secondary to that of the CIO, the CFO or another C-suite executive. But as security becomes a more pressing concern, CSOs have come out of the shadows to take a separate, but equally important role at the executive table.
"That can be hard for other C-suite players to swallow; this role that once reported to them – whether it was an offshoot of the CIO's role, or a CFO or even the CEO – is now a separate role with its own distinct priorities, budgets and concerns that sometimes appear to conflict with what other C-suite members' priorities are," says Zia Bhutta, co-founder and COO of consulting and strategic outsourcing firm Synechron.
