| |SEPTEMBER 20248CIOReviewLET GO OF YOUR SUPERHERO CAPEBy Karin Höne, Group Chief Information Security and Risk Officer, BarloworldWhen I started my career in information security, it was most often seen as a career where one sat in a back corner, spoke a foreign language with strange acronyms and did some "stuff" that nobody understood. We often said "no" and in our minds, we wore superhero capes; we were there to save the day! Over time one of the most important lessons I had to learn was that to be an effective and value adding information security professional, I had to let go of my superhero cape and instead embark on a journey with my business colleagues. The war against cybercrime is not a war one can win in isolation; one needs the partnership of one's business colleagues. This means that I had to learn to allow my business colleagues into my world, empower them to make informed risk-based decisions for the benefit of the organisation; and not to say "no" but rather "let us consider"!In my journey I have adopted several principles supporting my efforts of letting go of my superhero cape. Firstly, remember the user. Any information security controls, solutions, and processes must take into consideration that your user community does not consist of information security professionals and they are most often not too interested in or passionate about the topic. Therefore, to the extent possible, one must build information security solutions and Karin HöneIN MY OPINION
< Page 7 | Page 9 >