Today, however, the rapidly changing view of IT has led to a growing requirement for the CISO role. This, says Boland Lithebe, Head: Altron Systems Integration Security, is because as organisations start consuming IT innovations and applications, and exposing their business offerings through the internet, the need for a more specialist position has increased.

“While the CSO role was always located within the company’s IT function, we are seeing the CISO function moving away from IT over time. Today’s CISOs also play an oversight role, enabling them to understand at a broad level how the business is operating, how technology is being handled and how best to communicate this to the rest of the board,” he says.