The CTO and Security by Design
The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is an executive who handles an organization’s technical requirements and research and development (R&D). The CTO often reports directly to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) but in some organizations may report to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CTO is also responsible for overseeing technology development for the company’s customers, and may handle internal IT operations for smaller companies that have no CIO.
When working with your CTOs, it helps to understand their priorities, potential conflicts of interest with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and the importance of security by design and secure coding for the CTO’s role in cybersecurity.
We will cover the following topics in this chapter:
- The role of the CTO
- Why the CTO should care about cybersecurity
- How the CTO becomes a security ally
- Secure coding and secure software development
- Conflicts...