Sidebar: CISOs Move Beyond Tech

Computerworld - Top security executives will have some of the most fluid job descriptions in the industry this year. There will be a continuing separation of operational security from policy setting and oversight, predicts Paul Stamp, an analyst at Forrester Research.
"If you go into a room with CISOs today, they seldom want to talk about technology," he says.
Because there are so many demands on chief information security officers today -- developing a long-range security strategy, overseeing risk management and regulatory compliance, and approving technology deployments -- executives must delegate some of the less-strategic product-implementation tasks to people with more expertise in those areas, Stamp says.
For example, information security managers will delegate firewall installations and maintenance to network managers or administrators, who are better suited to track network performance and determine whether the firewalls are working optimally. Installing and maintaining antivirus software will become the responsibility of desktop administrators.
That will free up security executives to devote more time to the procedural aspects of security, as well as risk management and compliance issues.

Read more about Management and Careers in Computerworld's Management and Careers Topic Center.