YOUR BOARD’S CYBERSECURITY OVERSIGHT PROBABLY ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH Most bank boards struggle with cybersecurity oversight because they don’t know what questions to ask, how to interpret the answers or whether their security measures are actually working. Directors may approve cybersecurity budgets without understanding if those investments actually reduce risk, or they may review incident reports without grasping whether response times meet industry standards. They can describe their cybersecurity framework but often can’t explain what their institution does with the results. The challenge is compounded further when cybersecurity is presented as a jargon-filled IT issue rather than the business-critical risk it represents, creating a dangerous gap between regulatory expectations and board-level understanding that leaves institutions vulnerable not just to cyber threats but to regulatory scrutiny. Whether you’re a director seeking to understand what your institution’s NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) or ISO framework results actually mean for your risk profile or an executive preparing risk dashboards, security briefings and incident reports for your board, the ultimate risk assessment strategy is to provide practical approaches that close the cybersecurity literacy gap. Board cybersecurity literacy doesn’t mean directors must become technical experts. But it does require structured questioning, clear reporting that translates technical risks into business impact and honest assessment of organizational maturity. By STEVE SANDERS Chief Risk Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, CSI 14 NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT BANKER
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