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As organizations increasingly view information as one of their most valuable assets, which supports the creation and distribution of their products and services, information security will be an integral part of the design and operation of organizational business processes. Yet, risks associated with cyber attacks are on the rise. Organizations that are subjected to attacks can suffer significant reputational damage as well as loss of information and knowledge. As a consequence, effective leadership is cited as a critical factor for ensuring corporate level attention for information security. However, there is a lack of empirical understanding as to the roles strategic leaders play in shaping and supporting the cyber security strategy. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature by focusing on how senior leaders support the cyber security strategy. The authors conducted a series of exploratory interviews with leaders in the positions of Chief Information Officer, Chief Security Information Officer, and Chief Technology Officer. The findings revealed that leaders are engaged in both transitional, where the focus is on improving governance and integration, and transformational support, which involves fostering a new cultural mindset for cyber resiliency and the development of an ecosystem approach to security thinking. Managerial relevance statement Our findings provide interesting insights for managers particularly those in the role of Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Security Information Officers (CSIOs), and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs). We propose a Cyber Security Strategy Framework (CSSF) which can be used by these information/technology managers to design an effective organizational strategy to develop cyber resilience in their organization. Our framework suggests that managers should focus on transitional and transformational support. The transitional support focuses on improving governance and integration whereas transformational support focuses on the emphasis of fostering a new cultural mindset for cyber resiliency and the development of an ecosystem approach to security thinking. Our findings provide good evidence showing how leaders can support more effective cyber security initiatives.

Cet article est consacré à la dimension eurasiatique de la politique extérieure russe. L’intégration eurasiatique, qui n’avait pas la faveur des élites russes dans les années 1990, s’est progressivement imposée dans les années 2000 du fait de l’échec des projets d’union incluant l’Ukraine, comme des tentatives de rapprochement avec l’Europe occidentale. Désormais, Moscou s’appuie sur l’Union économique eurasiatique (uee) et sur l’Organisation du Traité de sécurité collective (otsc) pour tenter de réaffirmer son leadership en Eurasie postsoviétique et établir des partenariats internationaux à l’échelle continentale afin de structurer le projet de Grande Eurasie. Si cette politique a connu certains succès, notamment dans la coopération avec la Chine pour la mise en place des Nouvelles routes terrestres de la soie, elle continue de se heurter à l’incompréhension des puissances occidentales qui refusent toute forme de partenariat entre les structures euro-atlantiques et les organisations eurasiatiques., This article is devoted to the Eurasian dimension of Russian foreign policy. Eurasian integration, which was popular among Russian elites in the 1990s, gradually imposed itself in the 2000s due to the failure of union projects including Ukraine and of attempts to rapprochement with Western Europe. Moscow now relies on the Eurasian Economic Union (eaeu) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (csto) to try to reaffirm its leadership in post-Soviet Eurasia and establish international partnerships on a continental scale in order to structure the Great Eurasia project. If this policy has known certain successes, in particular in the cooperation with China for the establishment of the New Land Silk Roads, it continues to come up against the incomprehension of the Western powers which refuse any form of partnership between the Euro-Atlantic structures and Eurasian organizations.

While many researchers have investigated soft skills for different roles related to business, engineering, healthcare and others, the soft skills needed by the chief information security officer (CISO) in a leadership position are not studied in-depth. This paper describes a first study aimed at filling this gap. In this multimethod research, both the business leaders perspective as well as an analysis of CISO job ads is studied. The methodology used to capture the business leaders perspective is via a Delphi study and the jobs adds are studied using a quantitative content analysis. With an increasing threat to information security for companies, the CISO role is moving from a technical role to an executive role. This executive function is responsible for information security across all layers of an organisation. To ensure compliance with the security policy among different groups within the company, such as employees, the board, and the IT department, the CISO must be able to adopt different postures. Soft skills are thus required to be able to assume this leadership role in the organisation. We found that when business leaders were asked about the most important soft skills the top three consisted out of 'communication', ‘leadership’ and 'interpersonal' skills while 'courtesy' was last on the list for a CISO leadership role.

This study addresses the role of a Dutch chief information security officer (CISO) and the soft skills required in this leadership role. The overview of soft skills is the outcome of the CISO perspectives in a Delphi study combined with an analysis of soft skills mentioned in job ads. A comparison with an earlier US-based study revealed that soft skills are ranked differently by Dutch CISOs. Moreover, we found that soft skills are not clearly described in job ads – none of these ads had explicitly listed soft skills. The present study demonstrates that CISOs with soft skills are in demand. The development of soft skills starts at a young age through various social activities and is also the result of self-actuation. The practical implications of this study are that it offers insights into the soft skills required for the role and discusses best-fitting leadership styles and ways in which organisations should include soft skills in recruitment.

This study addresses the role of a Dutch chief information security officer (CISO) and the soft skills required in this leadership role. The overview of soft skills is the outcome of the CISO perspectives in a Delphi study combined with an analysis of soft skills mentioned in job ads. A comparison with an earlier US-based study revealed that soft skills are ranked differently by Dutch CISOs. Moreover, we found that soft skills are not clearly described in job ads – none of these ads had explicitly listed soft skills. The present study demonstrates that CISOs with soft skills are in demand. The development of soft skills starts at a young age through various social activities and is also the result of self-actuation. The practical implications of this study are that it offers insights into the soft skills required for the role and discusses best-fitting leadership styles and ways in which organisations should include soft skills in recruitment.