The CISO branding playbook

In the latest episode of Health Stealth Radio, CHIME’s national cybersecurity advisor Lisa Gallagher joins host Frank Cutitta to dismantle outdated assumptions about the CISO role and chart a new course for the next generation of security leaders.

Gallagher, who has served as interim CISO for both health systems and financial firms, makes one thing clear: today’s CISO can’t just be technically competent, they have to be crisis-ready, emotionally intelligent, and personally branded.

“If you’re not managing your relationships upward — to the board, the executive suite, even the CFO — you’re not really doing the job,” Gallagher says.

From her work coaching CISOs after breaches to evolving the CHIME CISO Boot Camp curriculum, Gallagher sees a growing need for internal influencers who can demystify cybersecurity for non-technical stakeholders. She urges new CISOs to develop communication skills that rival their command-line fluency and offers advice for personal brand-building in an era of ransomware fatigue and burnout.

Other hot topics in the episode include:

• Why executive teams often misunderstand CISO responsibilities—and how to fix that disconnect

• What younger CISOs need to learn about influence and visibility

• Why recovery responsibilities are a growing point of contention among healthcare security leaders

• How board members are asking for one-on-one cybersecurity coaching (yes, really)

Gallagher’s monthly takeover of Health Stealth Radio promises to deliver even more candid insights from the frontlines of healthcare cybersecurity—without the vendor gloss.