Ego and the Role of Cybersecurity Leaders

This certification and a dollar will neither buy me a cup of coffee, nor will it protect the identity or data of people I serve as a CISO: my business associates, my customers, my patients, my clients, my partners, my suppliers, my vendors, or the health and safety of my friends and family.

Don't get me wrong, certifications are good things, but they have their place, and that place shouldn't be a false sense of superiority.

It’s super cool that you were first in your class at (insert brand-named higher educational institution here) or that you know all the leaders of the US intelligence agencies on a first name basis. 

I can drop names too, but where does that get us in terms of the real mission?

Do you have a growth mindset?

Do you embrace diversity?

Do you celebrate the achievements of others?

Are you transparent?

Are you approachable?

Do people like working with and for you?

Do you continuously achieve the mission? Do you even have a mission that doesn't involve self-aggrandizement or being the self-proclaimed smartest person in the room?

What’s the mission, you ask? It could be any one of these and more.

• Preventing nation states from turning off my dad’s respirator while he’s in the ICU recovering from COVID-19.
• Preventing ransomware from stopping whatever mission critical activity your organization engages in – like cold chain supply (think COVID vaccines).
• Preventing all traffic lights from turning green at once.
• Preventing my son’s car braking system from 'infotainment' compromise.
• Preventing the manipulation/malfunction of my cousin’s pacemaker or my friend’s insulin pump.
• Preventing the exfiltration of hundreds of thousands of personal records and the ruining of countless lives through identity theft.

Let’s keep our eye on the real mission of our vocation. Sure, it’s nice that you have an executive assistant, three master’s degrees, only fly first class, and you keynote at RSA and Black Hat every other year, but let’s get real. If we’re not in our exalted roles trying to solve the problem, we’re only taking up space.

Don’t let the supernova starlight of your ego get in the way of doing the real work that needs to be done. We all need to stop and remind ourselves why we got into this business in the first place.