The Shortest Hour: An Applied Approach to Boardroom Governance of Cyber Security(Security, Audit and Leadership Series)

Independent directors of corporate boards understand the importance of cyber security as a business issue. Increased regulatory requirements, the onslaught of breaches, as well as the replacement of the corporate network perimeter with more third-party partnerships have all contributed to cyber security rising to the top of enterprise risks. Yet, many directors only receive a few brief cyber security updates during the year. Moreover, many directors have devoted their careers to other important business disciplines and may not fully grasp the technical concepts of cyber security. The challenge is that many publications on board cyber security governance address the topic at such a high level that it removes the important context of the cyber security details—or covers the topic too deeply with hard-to-understand technical language. These resources may often provide lists of security questions for directors to ask of their management team, but they do not provide the answers to the questions so that actionable oversight can be performed. What I would have wanted, and why you are probably reading this book summary, is a resource that delivers the questions to ask but also provides the answers and in a narrative, easy-to-understand style. An award-winning Chief Information Security Officer with over two decades of working with multiple Fortune 500 boards, Lee Parrish provides an example-laden vision to improve cyber security governance in the boardroom. Additionally, Lee deciphers the technical jargon to increase the reader’s cyber fluency—not to make you a cyber expert but to help you be able to ask direct questions, understand the answers provided, challenge strategies, and advise on important cyber decisions. Pick up your copy of The Shortest Hour: An Applied Approach to Boardroom Governance of Cyber Security today and start your journey on achieving more effective cyber security oversight. Want to learn more? Please visit www.novelsecurity.com

Table of Contents:
SECTION ONE. Enhancing Board Oversight, 1. The threat landscape, 2. The chief information security officer role, 3. Security vs. compliance, 4. Examining the information security board governance structure, 5. Information security assessment, 6. The strategic plan, 7. The importance of execution, 8. Financing cyber security, 9. The role of security vendors and consultants, 10. Security service management, 11. A vision for cyber security board governance, SECTION TWO. Cyber security overview, 12. Security operations, 13. Incident response, 14. Security awareness, 15. Policy management, 16. Risk management, 17. The path ahead

About the Author :
Lee Parrish is an award-winning technology executive with over two decades of unique experience in blending cybersecurity expertise with essential business competencies. As a Chief Information Security Officer, he has built customized cybersecurity strategies for global Fortune 500 corporations and has led real-world incident responses to cyber events. Lee has served as a trusted advisor on cybersecurity to multiple boards consisting of Chief Executive Officers, a former White House Chief of Staff, retired high-ranking military officers and a former U.S. Presidential candidate. Lee possesses two graduate degrees and is certified as both a Boardroom Qualified Technology Expert as well as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. He has published numerous articles in industry journals, contributed to a best-selling information security book, and authored a children’s book on cybersecurity. He is a frequent speaker at international security conferences and a guest on various podcasts. Lee is a combat veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Review :
It is not a secret that Boards typically do not understand cybersecurity and threat landscape (hopefully I will be forgiven by various Board members reading these lines). It is also not a secret that CISOs more often than not have significant challenges getting their message across to the Board members. This book is targeting closure of this gap by both educating Board members by helping them to understand CISO role and cybersecurity threats and by guiding CISOs on how to package and deliver messages to Boards. Significant value of the book is in the clear callout the differences between compliance (notion well understood by Board members) and security (notion not so well understood by Board members). This book is highly recommended to all CISOs and all Board members who take their Board roles seriously. - Dr. Vladas Leonas, Adjunct Professor at the Australian Graduate School of Leadership (and a career CIO).