Book #3 (latest / published brand new / September 1st, 2024):
PREMIER CISO – BOARD & C-SUITE: RAISING THE BAR FOR CYBERSECURITY
Having worked in cybersecurity for three decades, the author focuses his third book on the crucial topic that any PREMIER CISO must succeed in – the company board, C-suite level conversations, and how to address the important subject of cybersecurity in an audience appropriate manner, while still bringing across the necessary core content. The book starts with an overview of the status quo of the industry and then leads into the conversations a new CISO should have; in preparing for the role, in performing of the role, and after leaving the position. A short summary highlights the latest market research on compensation figures, before the author details the CISO success factors that prepare aspiring CISOs as best as possible.
PREMIER CISO also educates the reader on the all-too-common misperceptions, misconceptions, and misguidance in the industry before it provides a streamlined approach to company board composition, leadership setup, and the CISO food chain. The core communication partners and relevant key topics are addressed step by step alongside the respective focus areas. Recent regulatory SEC changes are introduced and commented on, the concepts of SecDevOps and Enterprise architecture are pursued, and topics regarding the board and potential questions thereof are raised.
This book serves as a sparring partner for the CISO to “discuss” with their inner voice the key decisions to make, before setting the standard for the rise of the CISO and transitioning into the latest topics of quantum security and artificial intelligence (AI) security. Written as a high-level navigator for all CISOs who like to sharpen their saw and for those aspiring to become that PREMIER CISO, a well-defined index and complete bibliography are provided to help the time-pressed CISO focus on the relevant topics.
Book 2 (second published 02/20/2020):
GLOBAL CISO – STRATEGY, TACTICS, & LEADERSHIP: How to Succeed in InfoSec and CyberSecurity
This book is written by a C(I)SO for C(I)SOs – and also addresses CEOs, CROs, CLOs, CIOs, CTOs, Security Managers, Privacy Leaders, Lawyers, and even Marketing and Sales executives. It is written by a seven-time career CISO for other visionaries, leaders, strategists, architects, compliance and audit experts, those politically interested, as well as, revolutionaries, and students of IS, IT, and STEM subjects that want to step up their game in InfoSec and Cybersecurity. The book connects the dots about past data breaches and their misconceptions; provides an international perspective on privacy laws like GDPR and several others, about threat actors and threat vectors; introduces strategy and tactics for securing your organization; presents a first glimpse on leadership; explains security program planning and backup plans; examines team building; conceptualizes the governance board; explores budgets; cooperates with the PMO; divulges into tactics; further elaborates on leadership; establishes the reporting structure; illustrates risk assessments; elucidates security processes, principals, and architectural designs; enumerates security metrics; skims compliance; demonstrates attack surface reduction; explicates security intelligence; conceptualizes S-SDLC (SecDevOps); depicts security management; epitomizes global leadership; illustrates the cloud’s weaknesses; and finishes with an outlook on IoT. If you are in need of strong, proven, battle-tested security advice for a progressing security career, if you’re looking for the security wisdom of a global, experienced leader to make smart decisions, if you are an architect and want to know how to securely architect and design using guiding principles, design patterns, and controls, or even if you work in sales and want to understand how (not) to sell to the CISO – this is your almanac – and you will read and reference it many times.Michael S. Oberlaender is one of the best globally renowned security leaders; he has worked for over two and a half decades in global executive security roles for several global market-leading companies. Mr. Oberlaender is a sought-after conference speaker, panelist, and moderator; he has published numerous thought-leadership articles in the leading security journals, and is the author of the famous book C(I)SO – And Now What – How to Successfully Build Security by Design.Mr. Oberlaender sits on the Advisory Board for the companies TriagingX and SentinelOne, previously sat on that of NetSkope, and is an active and supportive member of ISACA, (ISC)², ISSA, InfraGard, and several industry associations. He is certified as CGEIT, CISM, CISSP, CRISC, CISA, ACSE, GSNA, TOGAF-9, and CNSS-4016. He holds a Master of Science (Physics) from the Ivy League ranking university, University of Heidelberg, in Germany.
Book #1 (first published book, January 2013):
C(I)SO – And Now What?: How to Successfully Build Security by Design
Have you ever wondered why so many companies and their security leaders fail in today’s cyber challenges? Regardless if you are new in this role and look for guidance, or you are considering yourself an expert and just wish to verify that you haven’t forgotten anything – this book will help you to tackle the subject right – by building “security by design”. The content covers your initial phases in the job such as setting expectations, base lining, gap analysis, capabilities building, and org chart variances. It then leads you to define security architecture, addressing a secure development process, application security and also security policy levels. Further items such as awareness programs, asset management, teaming up with audit, risk management, and finally the strategy development are covered. Then we dive into ROIs, trust relationships, KPIs, incident response, forensics, before we run into crises management by looking at some specific examples of personal experience of the author – himself a C(I)SO for many years. The book is ending by providing advice how to deal with other executive management, and what kind of education, certifications, and networking you need to focus on. If you consistently apply the content and advice provided in this book, you should be all set to succeed in your role as C(I)SO.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael S. Oberlaender is a cybersecurity industry leader and subject matter expert, 8x CISO, and author of the books CISO – And Now What? and GLOBAL CISO – Strategy, Tactics, & Leadership. This book is the third and his latest on the topic.
