All organizations are at different stages of cybersecurity risk management program development. These stages range from one end of the spectrum, where cybersecurity is not a consideration at all, to the opposite end where the organization has a holistic and proactive cybersecurity approach.
Given that cybersecurity is an ongoing strategy and not a technology (nor a destination), there are several fundamental risk management components that every program, regardless of current stage, should embrace.
Role of Senior Management: While it is the responsibility of the board to provide leadership and guidance for the enterprise-wide cybersecurity program, it will not succeed unless senior management takes a proactive stance in creating, maintaining, and governing the program. Without such support the implementation of even a well-envisioned program will fail.
We live in the age of eternal breach – cyber and data privacy risks permeate our lives.
Dr. Jack Dever and James Dever, Lockhaven Solutions
It is most often the senior management of an organization that has a comprehensive and clear understanding of how their organization functions, to include the intricacies of culture and history, both positive and negative. This gives them unique insight, especially in a federated environment, into matters that are critical to a program’s success.
Senior Management have knowledge of the relevant stakeholders; critical data and systems; understanding of conflicting points of view relative to security issues; and an understanding of how to best operationalize a program in their unique environment.
Therefore, senior management are crucial in the build of an effective program that strikes the appropriate balance between risk and other potential competing interests. This cooperation requires effort on all sides, including trust and close coordination between senior management, centralized “corporate” functions, and information security professionals
Dr. Jack Dever J.D., LL.M., S.J.D. is the CEO of Lockhaven Solutions.
Jack served as FBI Assistant General Counsel. In this role he advised on cyber operations against nation state actors and global Tier 1 operations against Al Qaeda and affiliate organizations. He was an Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). In this capacity he worked on a wide array of cases, including foreign cyber espionage and data exfiltration. Jack served on active duty in the US Army as a Judge Advocate. He deployed multiple times to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Horn of Africa. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart Medals.
After leaving government service, Jack was an Executive at General Electric where he served as Global Crisis Management Leader. In this role, he developed the Business Intelligence Unit which investigated cyber fraud and financial crime. Jack went on to several enterprise risk leadership roles at several of the world’s largest banks, including GE Capital, Wells Fargo, and UBS.
Jack holds a doctorate in Cyber Law. He has lectured extensively at universities, law schools and private institutions. He is Co-Director at the Center for National Security and Human Rights Law in Chicago and has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on Cyber Law, Banking Law, and National Security Law.
He remains active in support of Disabled Veterans and underserved communities.
James Álvaro Dever, Esq.is a Principal at Lockhaven Solutions.
James was a US Air Force Professor of Cyber Warfare. He taught Cyber Law, Intelligence Law, National Security Law, Privacy Law, and Space Law at the Air War College (AWC), Air Force Cyber College (AFCC), Air Force Judge Advocate General’s School (JAG School), Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), and Air Force Research Lab Information Directorate (AFRL), the nation’s premier research organization for Computers and Intelligence. In partnership with AFCC and National Security Agency (NSA) Cryptologic School colleagues, he designed new graduate degree programs in Cyber Strategy for senior military officers and Department of Defense (DoD) civilians. He has provided cyber education to senior government officials and private sector leaders from South America, Central America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia.
He served as a US Army Judge Advocate. He was the Cyber Warfare Judge Advocate at Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER) where he provided real-time legal advice on worldwide cyber offensive, cyber defensive, and DoD information network missions. He was Chair of the Law Department at the US Army Intelligence School. He taught Cyber Law, Intelligence Law, and National Security Law to DoD military personnel and civilians. He taught Advanced Source Operations at the HUMINT Training Joint Center of Excellence (HTJCOE), served as a Cyber Law Judge Advocate at the US Army Network Enterprise Technology Command (NETCOM), and was a Cyber Law liaison to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM).
Prior to the Army, he worked at Deloitte Cyber Risk Services. At Deloitte, he partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and helped create the Trusted Identities in Cyberspace and Privacy Engineering programs. He facilitated cybersecurity risk management for Fortune 100 companies.
He has published peer-reviewed law articles and book chapters on Cyber Law, Privacy Law, and National Security Law. He has lectured about enterprise cyber risk management at diverse venues including the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, the American Bar Association, NYU School of Law, the US Air Force Academy, and NATO Allied Command. He has taught extensively at universities and law schools. He is Advisory Director at the Center for National Security and Human Rights Law in Chicago and Co-Director, Cyber Risk Management for Executives Program. He is on the Board of Directors at the Journal of Law & Cyber Warfare.
