SABMiller CISO: Win budget by fermenting exec relationships

The security chief of SABMiller has scored a 1200 percent funding increase by fronting executives.

Mark Brown said maintaining a face with executives made security a priority for the beer brewer and ensured he kept his title as a tech chief.

Those who do not talk to the board risk losing their title within five years, he said.

“You need to raise your own profile to prove to the board who you are and be able to answer what questions come to you," Brown told a Gartner security conference in Britain.

"You need to understand the extended environment and the organisation. To get to a strategic planning process, do not do it within IT – get out and speak to the business and come up with a technology plan.

“But remember one thing: no one likes techno-babble except IT, so keep it simple.”

Techies were not generally communicators and found it hard to ask for funding, he said.

Security chiefs must consider the impacts of IT projects and how it would benefit the priorities of their businesses.

"Keeping your company secure is not a strategy."

“This is not about relaying risk, it is about documenting a level of corporate governance – but you want to remove ‘un' from unmanaged risk,” he said.

Brown said he scored a 1200 percent funding increase by following these methods.  

This article originally appeared at scmagazineuk.com