The CFO’s Role in Cybersecurity- Part 2

Dateline: November 10, 2017

Welcome to our Friday WRAP – one thought-provoking idea to think about over the weekend.

As mentioned last week,  I’ll be moderating a session on cybersecurity at the MIT CFO Summit and this prompted me to dig deeper into the CFO’s role in cybersecurity.  In an interview with Steffan Tomlinson, CFO of Palo Alto Networks, titled Why Cybersecurity Should Be the CFO’s Job, and published by Forbes, viewing cybersecurity from the perspective of enterprise risk management was suggested as a key reason for CFO involvement.  Tomlinson’s perspective is:

There are many creative approaches I have witnessed CFOs employ to build their competency in cybersecurity, but the one that most commonly stands out is when the CFO views cybersecurity through the lens of Enterprise Risk Management [ERM].

Cybersecurity is typically in the top five risks of a corporation and a key aspect of a CFO’s role is to help manage that risk. Viewing cyber risk through the lens of ERM enables the CFO to use a framework, process and strategy to help position the company to successfully manage the plan for cybersecurity. This approach provides a familiar environment for the CFO to get educated and bring pragmatism and a business context to the dialogue on cybersecurity.

How does the Enterprise Risk Management lens change the way you view cybersecurity?

That’s a WRAP!  Have a great weekend!

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