Peer to Peer Magazine

34 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | WINTER 2016 CASE STUDIES A Strong Team Builds Strong Security Security Runs in the Family Wind back the years, and it's prey clear why l ended up as a CISO. My father was a senior figure in the Rhodesian police force (now Zimbabwe), and he was both analytical and methodical. He retired from the force aer being shot during the civil conflicts, aer which he had a stint in banking before seing up a private investigation agency in the United Kingdom. The laer part of his career coincided with my teenage years. From the age of 14, I ran errands for him during the holidays for pocket money. That continued through my early and late teens (including while studying law). Aer school, we worked side-by-side, and eventually l had my own client base. However, the late nights and early morning surveillance jobs were both tiring and, at times, very boring. I needed a change. A Move to Freshfields Freshfields was (and still is) a legal superpower, and recruitment consultants got me in just as the firm was growing and merging with Bruckhaus and Deringer — two well-respected German law firms. I joined the litigation practice and worked my way through a variety of jobs. Five years in, Freshfields offered me a new role running projects in the marketing and business development group. That role developed, and a centralized project function was born two years later. I moved from project to program manager in four years, eventually running the firm's security program. In 2012, security was a major topic, and a basic proposal on operational and organizational needs resulted in a temporary CISO position. It came down to two things: They wanted someone who knew the firm and had effectual relationships. Delivering Success I believe in three things for delivering success: people, honesty and a positive direction. You cannot deliver effective change unless you believe in it yourself. Those on your team must emulate the same vision — it builds confidence. Bravery is also a necessity; security threats are evolving at such a pace that there is no space for half-hearted commitments. Strong People Strong people build sustainable teams. All of Freshfields' security team was handpicked based on diversity and drive. Each was sold the role on the concept of being "founding members." Since the security function was formed, not a single member has le. The team comprises nine staff; only two had previous security experience, with the remaining specialists in human resources, IT, project management or continuous improvement. But no one person is more valuable than the next — only together can we offer the firm a world-class service. We have just the right mix of: » Sales: Experts at explaining the risks and selling the benefits of change » Project Managers: Masters at delivering the agreed changes » Executives: Superheroes who own the process and are commied to continuous improvements, keeping both the sales and project teams on the straight and narrow I am Freshfields' Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), responsible for information and cybersecurity across 27 offices and a £1.3 billion per-year- business. It's a difficult task, but our strong security team at Freshfields Bruckhaus builds strong security together. by Mark Walmsley A Strong Team Builds Strong Security

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