CIO OPINION
Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities can help CISOs advocate for security at the board level. Most importantly, fostering a securityfirst culture within the organisation and continuous learning are vital to stay ahead of evolving threats.
Emile Abu Saleh, Vice President, Northern Europe, Middle East Türkiye and Africa, Proofpoint
CISOs are navigating rising volumes of people-targeted attacks, mounting regulatory pressure, and internal risk driven by human error. They are being pulled in every direction while managing internal challenges like employee turnover, tight budgets, and tool sprawl.
Chester Wisniewski, Field CISO, Sophos
Regulations, cybercrime groups, nation-states, intellectual property theft. There is a lot to stay on top of. Staying connected to your peers is invaluable as way to accelerate your knowledge of the current threat landscape. CISOs rely on sharing experiences to collectively inform their decision making.
Maher Jadallah, Vice President, Middle East and North Africa, Tenable
In the UAE, 69 % reported burnout and 87 % faced excessive expectations in 2024. In Saudi Arabia, burnout was lower at 34 %, but 88 % said they faced heightened pressure.
This reflects a shift in what the role demands: CISOs must now combine leadership, agility, and board-level influence.
Scattered products and siloed views have left organisations struggling to hold back threats across a fragmented attack surface. Security teams are looking to cybersecurity vendors to help them cut through the noise and focus on the exposures that pose the greatest risk.
In addition, AI technologies are being scrutinised more from a buyer’ s perspective, with many considering them a third-party risk. CISOs are now in the hot seat and must try to get their hands around both the risk versus reward and the materiality of risk when it comes to AI tools.
To secure the modern attack surface security teams need vendors to deliver a unified approach that illuminates the attack paths within their environments that pose a real versus theoretical risk. Cybersecurity vendors must help CISOs and security teams prioritise where to focus efforts. p
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