Non-Executive Director Search for Cybersecurity

On the regulatory agenda of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website for 2021, it sits there in the first position.

• Disclosure relating to climate risk, human capital, including workforce diversity and corporate board diversity, and cybersecurity risk

This statement may seem minor until we unpack what's genuinely occurring within publically traded and regulated companies. Cybersecurity could be the largest non-balance sheet risk corporations face. Yet, boards around the globe lack the knowledge and experience required to evaluate cybersecurity risk and ensure the proper measures are assessed and addressed, ensuring financial performance and resilience. 

Cybersecurity is a leadership function that requires both deep and broad understandings to property assure risk related to the business. Unfortunately, many Non-Executive Boards haven't had focused and culminating experiences around cybersecurity and risk management. As a result, they are rarely equipped with the right questions or insight to work at the C-Office and Board of Directors level. At this point, cybersecurity-focused Non-Executive Director (NED) talent can provide expertise and critical input to improve cyber posture and help make changes that impact the business and the balance sheet. 

As NEDs with deep cybersecurity and risk management gain, more focus brought forward by the SEC and other regulatory changes such as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), the regulatory environment in the United States and the world is changing rapidly. As more regulatory standards roll out, it's imperative that Boards and executive leadership ready themselves to take action, to ensure proper Board governance, cybersecurity oversight, and reporting. The SEC is sharpening its pencil and policy-making to ensure cybersecurity and risk management are properly governed, and the impact to corporate image and the fines levied for non-compliance or bad practices begin to matter. Precedence is being set right now for the SEC to go after organizations and Boards with less than satisfactory cybersecurity and risk management leadership. 

Unlike other executive and professional disciplines, cybersecurity has no formal professional qualifications to assess governance and assure cyber risks for the board, so your NED must be deeply vetted, and this is where The Augusta Group helps. We leverage our networks, our relationships, our recruiting model, and identify and align NED talent for cybersecurity that helps an organization improve governance and performance.