Tag Archives: Enterprise Security

The Rise of the CISO: A Brief History of the Chief Information Security Officer

A detailed history of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) role, tracing its origin to Citigroup in 1995 and exploring how it evolved from a technical IT role to a strategic business function. The article examines shifts across decades, global trends, modern challenges, and how the UK has uniquely adopted and adapted the CISO title, often slower and more varied than the US. It concludes that the role remains critical but inconsistently defined, particularly in public and hybrid sectors.

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The Ides of March: Reflections on Cyber, Startups, and Scaling Innovation

The Ides of March is a fitting time to reflect on betrayal, resilience, and the realities of UK cybersecurity. In the past two weeks, I’ve balanced DSIT’s Cyber Local funding process, chaired the West Midlands Cyber Working Group (WM CWG), led two funding bids, scaled one startup in a brutal funding climate, and booted up a second from scratch. Along the way, I’ve won the Pitch Battle at Cyber Runway Live, launched the UK’s first dedicated universal cyber risk score and comparison site, and tackled everything from weaponised AI threats to Kafka-powered scalability, all while navigating the messy, unpredictable, and often painful journey of building something that lasts.

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