World Class Security Strategies Brought to Life at CSO50 Conference + Awards

In April, CSO will recognize 50 organizations for implementing world class security solutions at the annual CSO50 Conference + Awards. The 2019 CS050 award winners represent an elite group of thought leaders in the security field. While the business risk landscape continues to change at breakneck speed, these organizations are minimizing threats through innovative tactics and sharpened security strategy.

Business Risk Landscape

Enterprise technology is rapidly advancing as more organizations transition to a digital-first approach. The number of IoT initiatives is growing exponentially, exposing new threats to the enterprise. Despite this, many organizations are unequipped to defend against security threats. Even worse, they are not prepared to respond properly should a security incident occur.

According to our 2018 Security Priorities research, 44% of organizations do not have an overall information security strategy, 48% don’t have an employee security awareness program, and more than half (54%) don’t have an incident response plan in place. This is particularly alarming as security breaches continue to impact organizations, resulting in compromised data and significant monetary losses. From industry giants like Uber and Marriott, to small-medium sized businesses, organizations of all sizes are at risk. Just last year, data breaches exposed 5 billion records alone.

The CSO50 award winners recognize this dilemma and are investing in the right technologies, strategies and people to ensure a secure business environment. These organizations are driving innovation in the security field, delivering business value and thought leadership through new tools and programs. This year’s winning projects are focused on today’s hottest security topics including:

• Access and Identity Management
• Critical Infrastructure
• Cybersecurity
• Data Loss Prevention and Recovery
• IoT and Machine Learning
• Managing Third-Party Risk
• Minimizing Risk & Fraud
• Security Awareness and Training

Understanding Zero Trust Opportunity

The Zero Trust Security model has emerged as an important philosophy among security leaders, including many of our CSO50 winners. Put simply, Zero Trust is the belief that organizations should not automatically trust anything inside or outside its perimeters. Instead, they must verify anything and everything trying to connect to its systems before granting access. At this time, 71% of security leaders are aware of the Zero Trust model while 42% are active in the research stage.

“The strategy around Zero Trust boils down to don’t trust anyone. We’re talking about, ‘Let’s cut off all access until the network knows who you are.’ Don’t allow access to IP addresses, machines, etc. until you know who that user is and whether they’re authorized.”
Charlie Gero
CTO, Enterprise & Advanced Projects Group
Akamai Technologies

CSO50 winners are embracing this mentality as they continually work to enhance their security posture. The Zero Trust approach helps change the culture of a company, while creating new roles and processes to remain proactive against potential threats. Going forward, expect more CIOs and CSOs to research and implement Zero Trust technologies as attacks grow more sophisticated.

Join us at the CSO50 Conference + Awards

All CSO50 award winners will be recognized at this year’s conference, taking place April 8-10, in Scottsdale, AZ – marking CSO’s 16^th year producing groundbreaking events for CSOs and security innovators. The program features keynote sessions and short format presentations focused on thought leadership ideas, concepts and trends that will shape the future of IT security and risk management.

CSO’s national conference draws 200+ security decision-makers for three days of peer interaction, education and engagement. Attendees travel from across the U.S. to learn from top vendors and industry experts as they seek out information on security solutions and best practices. As an event sponsor, you’ll have the opportunity to share insights and build relationships with some of the nation’s top security executives.

To learn about how you can participate in this year’s big event, click here. Please note that opportunities are based on availability. Here’s a list of the sponsors that will be joining us in Scottsdale in April…

Underwriters
• HP
• West Monroe

Defenders
• Attivo Networks
• Beyond Trust | Sail Point
• BitSight
• Checkmarx
• Code42
• Dropbox
• Juniper Networks
• Proofpoint