Ten Cyber Lessons from Chris Inglis

I attended ISTARI 's Compass Summit in London last week to hear various distinguished leaders discuss emerging themes in cybersecurity. Inaugural U.S. National Cyber Director Chris Inglis ( John Inglis ) made ten excellent points worth repeating:

Lesson 1: Build Resilient Systems: Develop resilient digital, financial, and climate systems that can handle disruptions. Proactively address vulnerabilities to ensure smooth operations and robust performance. Continuous improvement is key to maintaining resilience.

Lesson 2: Integrate Crisis Management: Prepare crisis management plans for seamless transitions from normal operations to crisis response. Have a clear strategy for augmenting technical or human resources to manage emergencies and prevent minor issues from becoming major disasters.

Lesson 3: Reevaluate Digital Priorities: Ensure digital infrastructure aligns with strategic goals and mission assurance. Digital tools should support the organisation's overall objectives, providing value beyond their technical functions. Regularly reassess digital priorities to maintain relevance and effectiveness.

Lesson 4: Elevate Cybersecurity: Treat cybersecurity as a core part of the organisational mission, essential for success. Embed cybersecurity in all operations to protect against threats and ensure mission continuity. Recognises its critical role and allocate resources accordingly.

Lesson 5: Adopt a Human-Centric Cyber Approach: Focus on people and organisational goals over technology. Ensure technological deployments and cyber strategies support and enhance human capabilities and organisational objectives, not overshadow them. This fosters better adoption and effectiveness of solutions.

Lesson 6: Proactivity Over Reactivity: Implement proactive strategies to anticipate and mitigate risks before they escalate. Identify potential threats and vulnerabilities early and take preventive measures. This helps maintain stability and avoid reactive, crisis-driven responses.

Lesson 7: Leadership in Crisis and Communication: Enhance trust and transparency by communicating operational and security protocols to stakeholders before crises occur. Clear communication builds confidence and prepares stakeholders for challenges. Effective communication ensures coordinated responses during crises.

Lesson 8: Prepare for Organisational Resilience: Engage in preparatory work and simulations to build resilience for swift responses to unexpected events. Regularly practice crisis scenarios to develop muscle memory and confidence, enabling more effective handling of real situations.

Lesson 9: Engage with Regulators Proactively: Work closely with regulators to shape cybersecurity regulations based on real-world needs and challenges. Proactively engaging regulators allows organisations to influence practical and supportive regulations, ensuring regulatory requirements align with organisational capabilities.

Lesson 10: Differentiate Leadership from Management in Security Contexts: Foster leadership that inspires and redefines possibilities, while management focuses on aligning and executing tasks to enhance cybersecurity and organisational resilience. Effective leadership sets vision and direction, while management ensures necessary actions are taken to achieve goals. Both roles are crucial for a resilient and secure organisation.

#CyberSecurity #Leadership #Resilience #CrisisManagement #DigitalTransformation #ProactiveStrategies #RegulatoryEngagement #ISTARISummit #ChrisInglis

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