The Security Awareness Special Interest Group (SASIG) is hosting its Winter Seminar with audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers on October 30, in London. For its final public session of the year the Group will tackle the obstacles in obtaining senior management buy-in to security.
According to PwC’s 2012 Information Security Breaches Survey the average cost of a large organisation’s worst security breach is between £110,000 and £250,000; 80pc of large organisations don’t evaluate return on investment on their security expenditure and 20pc of large organisations spend less than 1pc of IT budget on information security.
Martin Smith is chairman of SASIG and says: “Getting senior management to recognise that an information security budget should be at the top of any list in terms of brand reputation, shareholder protection and safeguarding the individuals whose data can be compromised let alone implementing best practice, is repeatedly reported as one of the major hurdles to implementing any security programme. As information security professionals we can develop strategies that improve productivity, public perception, brand value and stock price but until senior management is on board, progress and improvement is stifled through lack of budget. It isn’t a pretty subject but we need this skill set in our armoury.”
During the day industry figures will share their knowledge to help the audience tackle the compelling issues involved in establishing a security programme as an essential part of any corporate strategy. Included in the programme will be:
* The importance of a long-term strategic and business focused approach to security
* How to get the attention of our C-Suite colleagues over the noise of many other urgent claims
* How to prove that effective security risk management can be both a business enabler and a contributor to share value
* How to demonstrate return on investment for security programmes through effective measurement
Speakers will be announced over the forthcoming weeks. Numbers for the event, which is free, are strictly limited. To register interest – visit http://bit.ly/L85L6N or call 44 (0)1234 708456. In the event of over-subscription a ballot will be held and attendance confirmed within two weeks of the event.
