Being in charge of your organization’s data security is a hard job with lots of stress. You’ve got to understand where your data is, where it’s going, what systems are used to store and move it, and what regulations are in play. You have to understand the threats to data integrity that your organization faces and allocate limited resources to tools and training that minimize those threats. Ideally you are able to regularly test your systems and readjust based on changing conditions and keep everything up-to-date, but usually you are expected to keep everything safe on a budget that is less than adequate.
CISOs Under Pressure
Data security is a Sisyphean task, and it can result in professional burnout. According to a February 2023 article in CSO Magazine, a recent survey by the technology analyst and consulting firm Gartner found that half of chief information security officers (CISOs) plan to change their current job by 2025 due to stress, and half of those intend to leave the information security profession completely. The responsibilities of data security, and the pressures involved for organizations that suffer a data breach, are too much to take.
Complementing the Gartner report, in March 2023 The Hacker News covered a different survey that found 94% of CISOs said they were stressed, and that 64% believed their situations compromised data security at their places of work. Compounding the problem, those security leaders said staff were also stressed, affecting retention and performance, forcing many leaders back into tactical security tasks while also managing their data security programs.
Gallows humor within the CISO ranks is often heard in statements along the lines that they are hired just to be fired as a scapegoat following a data breach, but CNBC reported in September 2022 that job stress was pushing CISOs out before the axe could fall. The article cited a survey by executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles that found stress (59%) and burnout (48%) to be the two top personal risks faced by CISOs.
Heidrick & Struggles partner Matt Aiello, who leads the firm’s cyber practice, told CNBC, “It’s a great role, but it’s very hard and the regulatory pressures are increasing, and that makes being a CISO even more challenging.” As a result, Aiello said CISOs are “choosing to punch out.”
A Strong Stress Reliever
That’s not good news for CISOs or their employers. And while we at Coviant Software don’t pretend to have all the answers for a CISO who is feeling the pressures these articles describe, we do know that having the right tools for any job can go a long way to relieving that stress. And when it comes to the essential task of managed file transfer (MFT), we’ve got a tremendous stress reliever in our Diplomat MFT software. Let’s take a look at some of the key features that a CISO can rely on to make their job easier and more stress-free:
- Support for security standards like OpenPGP encryption and secure transport protocols like SFTP to ensure data is protected at rest and in transit.
- Secure deployment and configuration behind the firewall, with no internet-facing administration dashboards; no files, credentials, or keys are ever stored in the DMZ; and it uses multifactor authentication to ensure only employees whose role requires it have access.
- Simple process automation to ensure all tasks are done as required and on time, minimizing the risk of human error.
- A robust task scheduler with virtually limitless capacity to make sure even the largest of enterprises with vast and complex digital partner networks can send, receive, host, and retrieve files on time.
- Alert notifications to your medium of choice (like email, Slack, text, etc.) so that if something happens to prevent a transfer (maybe the recipient changed a setting without telling you) you know immediately and have the information needed to mitigate the situation. And,
- Full documentation of each step of the file transfer process to ensure you have the information you need in case an audit is required, or to conduct forensics if necessary.
The Right Tool Makes it Easy
Diplomat MFT is available in three right-sized editions for organizations with managed file transfer needs that range from modest to enterprise-scale and everything in between. Some of the largest organizations in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and more rely on Diplomat MFT to deliver their most sensitive files daily. And we back our products with excellent customer and technical support that is rated highest in our industry. When you need us, we are there to help with actual experts who know managed file transfer inside and out.
Finally, Diplomat MFT is cheaper than therapy. We offer Diplomat MFT at a transparent and ethical price point that is a fraction of what some other vendors charge because we believe that good security tools should not be cost prohibitive. And to make sure you have full confidence that Diplomat MFT is the right tool to handle your MFT needs, you can try it for free for 15 days. Put our software through its paces, see how easy it is to install, configure, and operate, and then make your decision. It doesn’t get more stress-free than that.
