The Modern CISO w/ James Azar

Host Allan Alford interviews guest James Azar, host of the CyberHub CISO Talk Podcast, and CISO in the financial services space. James and Allan discuss the techniques and approaches of the modern CISO, and contrast this with some of the older approaches of the job. James defines the cultural shift between the old and new as having taken place since September, 2017 (the Equifax breach).

James and Allan discuss the impact on the team, business, clients, customers, and shares their thoughts and experience on how to stay modern. “What keeps you going in cybersecurity?” as the signature final question for each guest has been replaced with “What surprises you the most in cybersecurity?” James is the first guest to answer that question, and his answer is a bit of surprise itself…

Key Takeaways:

0:16 – Intro
1:04 – Bio
2:00 – The modern CISO contrasted with the older CISO
4:46 – What does the modern CISO mean to the team, business, clients and customers?
7:10 – How to interact with the business: building relationships, teams, meetings…
11:18 – How James Azar puts forward a message of security for the company
11:52 – Security Questionnaires and what is wrong with them
12:20 – Picking on SOC 2
12:39 – Operationalizing security within a client customer relationship
14:11 – Shared responsibility model (cloud) and CMMC replacing SOC 2 and SIG and other older standards: 5 or 6 questions
17:50 – How the word “no” keeps the business and team from moving forward
18:06 – CISO choosing business over security and ignoring the subsequent notions of career risk
19:40 – Automation on the technology front and how it changes the modern CISO’s perspective
20:30 - COVID-mandated lockdown and the implications for workers in countries around the world
23:19 - Automating all entry-level positions and bringing entry-level people up
25:45 – What surprises James Azar the most about cyber security

Links:

Learn more about James Azar on LinkedIn
Follow Allan Alford on LinkedIn and Twitter
Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio and The Cyber Ranch Podcast
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