The CIO’s Perspective: Cybersecurity

More than 900 CIOs have shared their current priorities in Evanta’s recent Leadership Perspective Survey, and topping the charts for 2022 is cybersecurity. Not only have CIOs rated this key initiative as the #1 top priority, but they have also ranked it #1 in their planned investments for two years in a row. 

So, what are CIOs focused on in this space? 

One CIO in the Boston area stated, “It (cybersecurity) is a hot topic within any company. As a CIO, I’m responsible for reporting on cybersecurity to the board, so I have to know what’s going on in this space. Now that nearly everyone is working remotely, we need a security strategy that includes endpoint devices, tabletop exercises, crisis management, etc., putting cyber first and foremost.”

Many CIOs are admitting to attacks that have formally been undisclosed. A CIO in the Chicago community said, “We’ve had several ransomware attacks or worked with others who have been attacked. It affected us in getting new products out to our commerce side.”

Another CIO in Atlanta talks about the steps he had to take after a cyber attack last summer: “We literally worked around the clock for six weeks after the attack. We were only down for a day, but had to do a lot of clean-up, working with an outside counsel and cyber insurance. After the attack, I had to do weekly presentations to the board, but on the bright side, the tech that we brought in after the fact, wouldn't have gotten funded or approved if this wouldn't have happened.”

The team at Evanta qualifies the survey results through hundreds of CIO discussions each year. Here’s a look at the top rated goals and challenges for cybersecurity among Evanta’s CIO community.

As we converse with CIOs about cybersecurity, it’s clear that hiring a CISO and security team is only one step in reducing the many cyber risks. They have several other challenges to overcome in this space, including the following:

So, what and when are CIOs investing in technologies to help the posture of their organization?

The Evanta survey data shows us that 61% of CIOs who indicated planned spend in cybersecurity have also indicated an increase in their capital investments. In fact, 92%  of CIOs revealed that they will be investing in cybersecurity tools and services within the next 12 months.

Here’s a breakdown of how the Evanta communities have ranked this investment priority and the timeline for when they plan to invest.

The topic of cybersecurity is highlighted at these upcoming CIO Executive Summits:

Atlanta CIO Executive Summit on May 10th

Boston CIO Executive Summit on May 11th

Dallas CIO Executive Summit on May 18th

Chicago CIO Executive Summit on May 25th

Toronto CIO Executive Summit on June 15th

If you’re looking forward to discussing cybersecurity further with executives in other CIO communities, you can view all of our summits here.