Selim Aissi, CISO at software company Ellie Mae, saw it as confirmation of his role as trusted adviser when one of his company’s board members texted him late one night a few years ago.
The director wanted to better understand NotPetya, the devastating ransomware attack that was beginning to make headlines at the time. Aissi followed up the text with a phone call, during which he and the director talked about the news-making malware.
Although it wasn’t the first or last time a board member sought out his insights, Aissi says the director’s comfort in initiating that conversation illustrated for Aissi that he had a strong relationship with the board.
“That was my first big a-ah moment,” Aissi adds.
Security in the past five years has become a board-level concern, elevated from an operational issue to a strategic one – a change that has CISOs increasingly presenting to board members.