We’re all pretty familiar with the venerable C-I-A Triad whereby secure data exhibits the characteristics of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. But today’s cybersecurity challenges demand we recognize another triad critical to success: interaction among boards, CIOs, and CISOs. In many sectors, CIOs and CISOs have historically had limited interaction with boards. This approach has not served those organizations well. The complex and ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape mandates a closer relationship allowing the board to benefit from the experience and advice of these partners in developing strategic guidance.
The complex and ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape mandates a closer relationship allowing the board to benefit from the experience and advice of these partners in developing strategic guidance.
Dr. Jack Dever & James Dever, Lockhaven Solutions
Below are 3 ways boards can facilitate more effective partnerships with CIOs and CISOs:
1. Think carefully about reporting structures. CIOs and CISOs have different duties and responsibilities. Many organizations can benefit from not having CISOs be direct reports to the CIO.
2. CIOs and CISOs must build partnerships and trust throughout the organization. Boards should engage early and often with their security teams to establish and reinforce this trust.
3. Boards must ensure CIOs and CISOs are granted appropriate, quality interactions with all leadership, regardless of function. They cannot afford to be siloed in IT-centric roles and must be active participants in all aspects of the organization, including business development, supply chain and third-party vendors, legal, audit, and HR.
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.
