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Episode #

55

CyberBellum’s Jim Tiller on Mastering the Role of a Fractional CISO



Show Notes

In our latest episode of The Future of Threat Intelligence podcast, Jim Tiller, CISO at CyberBellum and a veteran in the cybersecurity industry with over 25 years of experience joins us to explore the intricacies of working as a fractional CISO.


He offers a unique perspective on the role's challenges and rewards and emphasizes the importance of understanding business nuances, building trust with leadership, and developing a broad-spectrum knowledge of emerging technologies. Jim's insights shed light on measuring performance, effective communication, and essential skills provide invaluable guidance for navigating today's complex cybersecurity landscape.


Topics discussed:

  • The evolving role and challenges of being a fractional CISO in today's cybersecurity landscape.

  • The importance of building human connections and speaking the language of business stakeholders for effective cybersecurity leadership.

  • Strategies for measuring the success of a fractional CISO beyond traditional KPIs and metrics.

  • Essential skills for CISOs, including humility, broad-spectrum technological knowledge, and the ability to get the gist of new concepts.

  • The necessity of staying updated on threat intelligence and applying it effectively within your organizational structure.

  • Tips for aspiring CISOs on how to start and thrive in the ever-changing world of cybersecurity.

Key Takeaways:

  • Build strong human connections with stakeholders by understanding their language and business needs for effective cybersecurity leadership.

  • Measure your success as a fractional CISO by demonstrating influence and trust rather than relying solely on traditional KPIs.

  • Stay updated on the latest threat intelligence and apply it within your organization to bolster cybersecurity defenses.

  • Develop a broad-spectrum knowledge of emerging technologies to enhance your overall understanding and decision-making capabilities.

  • Communicate regularly with your team and organization, making cybersecurity updates engaging, relevant, and easy to understand.

  • Learn continuously and be a professional learner to keep up with the rapid changes in the cybersecurity landscape.

  • Demonstrate your value by showing how your decisions positively impact the organization's security posture and business goals.

  • Identify and understand key performance indicators that truly reflect your effectiveness and impact as a fractional CISO.

Quotes from Episode

#1.) “And then eventually just kind of made that my core career and sort of moving into how do I help people not be vulnerable to these types of attacks? And then the emergence of HIPAA and the early versions, like BS7799, which is now 27,000 series type of stuff. And then it just kind of took off. And I've always been in security ever since. And so that was sort of the trigger. So really I kind of started off as a pen tester, lack of better terms, and then moved into like a security risk and compliance kind of guy. And it just keeps evolving from there, right? And, yeah, and I've had a. I've been really lucky.” 1:56-2:30


#2.)“Hate to say, but you have to have a lot of bruises and scars, because to be able to operate at a meaningful level, at a CISO level,. Right. a pure, like, executive level, helping make decisions, investment decisions, risk decisions, partner investments, acquisitions, hiring, firing, all those different moving parts — to do that effectively is hard. To do it effectively across multiple sort of different environments is really hard.” 7:50-8:15;

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