ClubCISO Appoints Stephen Khan as its New Chair

ClubCISO, the international community of chief information security officers and security leaders, has announced the appointment of Stephen Khan as its new chair.

Khan is head of technology and cybersecurity risk at HSBC Group Information Security Risk, and is also the current chair of the White Hat Ball.

Khan has replaced Dr Jessica Barker as chair at ClubCISO, who will remain on the non-commercial organizations’ advisory board after serving two years as chair. Khan will look to build on Barker’s work highlighting that cybersecurity is about more than just technical expertise. Under her direction, ClubCISO has promoted the importance of culture, leadership and managing stress in the industry. Despite progress in this area, with 60% of CISOs stating they have delivered improvements in security culture in preliminary findings from this year’s ClubCISO annual survey, numerous research has demonstrated the high levels of stress and anxiety in the sector, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commenting on his appointment, Khan said: “We are already seeing that security culture remains right at the top of CISO priorities for the year ahead, so I’m taking over as chair at a point where Jess has already changed hearts and minds about what the security function really entails.

“As chair of ClubCISO, I hope to bring a security practitioner’s experience to bear on the development of the CISO role. I have lived information and cybersecurity roles for many years and in many different guises. Let us be honest, every CISO role has a different set of challenges as not all organizations are the same.”

Khan has taken the reigns at a time of high growth for ClubCISO, with its community growing by 56% in the past year, meaning it now represents CISOs and security leaders from UK, European and international businesses.

On stepping down from the role of chair, Barker commented: “I have loved my time as chair and am proud that we are leading the way as a community of real CISOs with real opportunities and challenges to deal with. Stephen is going to be a brilliant chair to continue our leadership on these hugely important topics.

“We are already seeing from the preliminary findings from the 2021 ClubCISO Annual Survey that stress is affecting CISO and team performance, and that stress is increasing in intensity year-on-year. Personal resilience is a key skill we all have to harness, and the ClubCISO app, events and discussion forums are proving a very effective way for CISOs to share with their peers. We must continue to lead the debate and help our members to support one another.”