Organizing your Cybersecurity Team: Roles and Responsibilities

“Cybercriminals are developing and boosting their attacks at an alarming pace, exploiting the fear and uncertainty caused by the unstable social and economic situation created by COVID-19.”

– Jurgen Stock, Interpol Secretary General

In 2020, software and tech solutions have made our work lives more convenient than ever. On the other hand, they’ve made it alarmingly simple for cybercriminals to access and compromise our data. When millions of Americans packed up their supplies and moved into their home offices, the importance of effective cybersecurity teams became more evident than ever.

In this article we’ll discuss some of the most important roles within your cybersecurity team. Use this information to build (or adapt) your current organizational structure.

Policy and Compliance Management

Team members operating in the compliance management space are tasked with developing, changing, updating, and approving security policies and procedures. Likewise, it’s their duty to ensure employees understand and closely follow key protocols.

Policy and compliance differ from industry to industry, making intimate knowledge of one’s field non-negotiable. For example, healthcare employees must undergo extension HIPAA training to protect patient and client medical information. Cybersecurity team members must perform internal and external audits – carefully following the standards set forth by their industry and their own organization.

Risk Assessment and Management

Monitoring risks and minimizing cyberthreats can mean many things, depending on the unique threats your industry faces. Employees working in this area must be experts at risk mitigation; from monitoring endpoint systems, to updating software, to anti-virus management and more.

Your risk assessment team should also be experts in control and auditing. Likewise, they should be capable of performing annual risk assessments. Finally, they should always be ready to adapt, in the event that unexpected changes occur.

Handling Incidents

No matter how well prepared a cybersecurity team is, incidents will still occur. For this reason, vigilance is key.

Effectively handling cyber incidents means identifying, reporting and taking necessary action to resolve the problem. Of course, things don’t always go smoothly, and not all cybersecurity problems can be resolved in a heartbeat. This only further highlights the importance of hiring talented employees.

New Security Implementation

There are always newer and better tools to organize, store and safeguard data. Hiring team members with a strong educational backbone – and the ability to adapt – is crucial.

For example, the sudden move to remote work forced many organizations to set up two-factor authentication systems for the first time. IT Teams were forced to adapt quickly and implement new technologies, all while fielding questions from colleagues. Some teams were well prepared. Others moved quickly to catch up. Still others lagged behind, revealing serious gaps in team organization, personnel, and overall preparedness.

Whenever new security systems are ready, it’s essential that your team can hit the ground running – from testing to implementation.

Conclusion: Organizing your Cybersecurity Team – Roles and Responsibilities

As the demand for IT talent continues to grow, organizing a talented cybersecurity team is no small task. CSO’s and CISO’s must stay flexible, especially since the shortage of IT talent remains a considerable issue.

Looking for solutions? Here are some final Judge pro tips:

• Don’t write off talented candidates who lack (some) direct experience – particularly if they have demonstrated adaptability and a willingness to learn.
• Consider candidates outside of your geographical range.
• Seek the help of a staffing partner with a proven track record to find the candidates you need.