Cyber Security Consulting

Whenever a breach occurs it reveals weaknesses in how an organization approached security.  Compromises are a great way to reveal the hidden sins organizations are committing.  In the case of the Target breach, it is a gift that keeps on giving.  While the initial breach report came out in December, it seems every week there are new “interesting” details that are revealed.  One of the more recent items is the fact that Target did not have a CSO and all security responsibilities were buried under the CIO.

The first question that people ask is whether the CIO should have been held responsible for the breach.  The bottom line is when a major event like this occurs; someone needs to be held responsible for the negligence.  Therefore it is not surprising that someone was blamed for the breach.  What was surprising is that security was a responsibility of the CIO.  Computer Security Services The fact that a large organization did not have a separate CSO that is a peer with the CIO, is what is most concerning about the story.  Clearly many things went wrong during the breach and whoever had the responsibility of security needs to be held accountable.  However, it was not fair that the executives structured the company in this manner.  Running the IT infrastructure (typically a role of the CIO) and protecting the information (typically a role of the CSO) are two different roles and it is unfair to have one person expected to do both effectively.  These roles while at times can be complementary, they are often at odds.  Having security buried under the CIO, puts that person in a conflict of interest situation.

First and foremost, organizations of any size, especially one the size of Target needs to have an executive that is responsible for security.  With the large interdependence organizations have on a digital infrastructure, security needs to have a seat at the table in the boardroom.  If security gets buried under IT, whose primary responsibility is running a reliable infrastructure, bad decisions will be made and breaches will happen.