What Does It Take to Be a CISO? (Infographic)

Recently, we discussed the serious need for skilled cybersecurity workers within the IT industry. As major data breaches become common in the media, companies are looking to their Chief Information Security Officers (CISO’s) to keep their sensitive information safe from hackers.

This is no easy feat.

As the head of security operations, a CISO must strategize, develop, and manage all the processes necessary to ensure the safety of their company’s digital information. So not only does this position require a decent amount of IT knowledge, but it also requires a substantial business management background, right? 

To answer this question, the folks at Digital Guardian studied the professional and educational backgrounds of CISO’s and security executives at Fortune 100 companies, and compiled their findings in the infographic below.

Interestingly, they found that the average number of certifications held by CISO’s surveyed was 2.68, the majority of those being CISSP, CISM, and ITIL. Also, 40% got their career starts in industries other than IT, suggesting that professionals looking to take advantage of the high demand for cybersecurity workers don’t necessarily need an IT background.