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84% of CLOs help determine cyber strategy

New research from the Association of Corporate Counsel Foundation shows that the overwhelming majority of in-house leaders have a key role in shaping the cyber security strategies of their organisations.

user iconJerome Doraisamy 08 November 2022 Corporate Counsel
84% of CLOs help determine cyber strategy
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New research from the Association of Corporate Counsel Foundation shows that the overwhelming majority of in-house leaders have a key role in shaping the cyber security strategies of their organisations.

The ACC Foundation, together with Ernst & Young, recently published its 2022 State of Cybersecurity Report, An In-house Perspective report, showing that nearly all chief legal officers are fundamentally important in the direction of cyber strategies for businesses and organisations.

 
 

The report shows that 84 per cent of companies now give the CLO a key role in the organisation’s cyber security strategy, with one in five (20 per cent) cyber security professionals reporting directly or indirectly to the CLO, four in five (39 per cent) CLOs being part of a team with cyber security responsibilities, and 24 per cent of CLOs being part of cyber security incident response teams.

ACC vice-president and CLO Susanna McDonald said: “As modern CLOs’ roles and responsibilities continue to expand, cyber security strategy and oversight is unquestionably one area where we’ve seen the largest growth.

“Between the ever-increasing frequency of attacks and substantial financial and reputational risk to the organisation’s operations and brand, this comes as no surprise. CLOs bring a unique combination of legal training, strategic thinking, and risk analysis to the table to best help prevent and, if need be, react to cyber security situations.”

EY Americas cyber security leader Dave Burg added: “New and proposed regulations are requiring involvement of the CLO at the senior management table, giving greater visibility into security programs to close cyber defence gaps, particularly as it relates to current state maturity assessments, liability, insurance, and other legal and regulatory concerns.

“The surprise here, given the pervasive nature of cyber security risks and the ever-changing legislative and regulatory landscape, is that any organisation would exclude their CLO from helping to develop, shape and execute an organisation’s cyber security risk management strategy.”

Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.

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