Do CISOs belong on the leadership team?

• Position: INFO SECURITY - Chief information security officers - ThreatTrack Security Inc. - Brief article

Cybersecurity solutions company ThreatTrack Security reveals in its "CISO Role Still in Flux" whitepaper that chief information security officers (CISOs) have made modest gains in commanding corporate respect, but hurdles still exist.

The survey of 200 C-level executives shows that although 79% of respondents believe their board of directors already has or should have a cybersecurity expert, 75% said that the CISO did not "deserve a seat at the table" nor should it "be part of an organization's leadership team. In 2014,74% viewed CISOs the same way.

The survey also shows that organizations have not given CISOs full authority over strategy and purchasing. Just 38% of the respondents answered that CISOs should be responsible and accountable for all information security strategies and cybersecurity technology purchasing decisions, down from 44% in 2014.

ThreatTrack Security points out that CISOs are still often viewed as scapegoats for data breaches; 47% of the respondents said CISOs "should be held accountable for any organizational data...