Five Key Questions About Cybersecurity that Every CEO Must Ask

A renowned authority on the subject of cybersecurity, Sai Huda is probably best known as the author of the best-selling book, Next Level Cybersecurity: Detect the Signals, Stop the Hack. Sai Huda has also written a range of thought-leadership articles including “Cybersecurity: Five Key Questions the CEO Must Ask.”

As part of its mission to serve a global readership of business leaders and individuals of high-net-worth, CEOWORLD magazine published “Cybersecurity: Five Key Questions the CEO Must Ask” authored by Sai Huda. This article begins by stressing the frequency of cyber attacks and the importance of guarding against them.

The article reveals the five cybersecurity questions that CEOs must ask and places a profound emphasis on securing the most valuable company information. Dubbing this information the company’s “Crown Jewels,” the article guides the CEO readers to first identify all Crown Jewels and then precisely where each is located. Then, the CEO must lead efforts to recognize all the methods that cyber attackers might employ to access each Crown Jewel and map the high probability signals that these cyber attackers will likely reveal. Lastly, the CEO must ensure that these cybersecurity measures result in timely detection, reporting and oversight in order to mitigate cyber risk effectively. 

Cyber Center of Excellence Article: Top Three Cybersecurity Threats

The Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) thought leadership article titled "Top Three Cybersecurity Threats You Should Mitigate Before It Is Too Late" warns organizations of all sizes and types of the significant risks posed from ransomware, cloud mis-configurations and supply chain backdoors.

The article was authored by Sai Huda, advisory board member at the CCOE. Huda is a globally recognized risk and cybersecurity expert, and author of the best-selling book, Next Level Cybersecurity: Detect the Signals, Stop the Hack.

In this timely article, Huda explains why these are the top three cybersecurity threats and provides examples of the threats and the impact to organizations. He also reveals a five step method to mitigate the threats that organizations of any size or type can implement to manage the risks.

Founded in 2014, the CCOE is a non-profit organization comprised of member organizations of all sizes and types in the cyber industry. The COOE is an advocate for cybersecurity best practices and growth of jobs in the cyber industry. The group provides opportunities for collaboration among industry stakeholders and performs research for the cyber community, such as economic impact studies. It also recently hosted Cyber Insiders, a thought leadership podcast on iHeart Radio on emerging cyber risks, featuring industry-leading cybersecurity experts. 

Five Questions to Ask About Your Company’s Cybersecurity

A technology visionary with an extensive background in assessing cybersecurity and corporate risk, Sai Huda has given keynote presentations on the subject at events such as the Risk and Compliance Summit. In a recent article, Sai Huda explored the foundational threats presented by hackers and ransomware, and listed key questions that every organization should ask as a way of staying proactive and mitigating risk.

One of these questions centers on whether a “reverse stress test” is undertaken periodically that simulates data theft or a ransomware attack. This process should provide answers to the timeline and manner in which recovery can occur, as well as trace the source of the data breach or ransomware attack, and the control and backup deficiencies.

Another question is whether a behavioral detection engine is continuously sifting through all of the “noise" and pinpointing signals that indicate potential ransomware activity before it spreads or lateral movement by the attacker prior to data exfiltration.

A third question is whether audits are regularly performed to ensure system configurations are all aligned and secure, such that the “crown jewels” in the cloud cannot be hacked or stolen. Does top-to-bottom organizational training on security awareness take place on a regular basis that both teaches cyber best practices and simulates threats?

Finally, ask whether the supply chain, which may have privileged access to company data, has been thoroughly audited and does not have weak security that presents potential backdoors to your company’s IP or data.