Forge Institute Launches “Ask A CISO” Program with Industry Cyber Executives

New Initiative Provides Essential Cyber Question and Answer Forum to Small and Medium Sized Businesses Leaders

Forge Institute has launched a new program designed to give small and mid-sized businesses valuable cyber and information security guidance. The unique program, “Ask a CISO,” makes available a variety of experts and security leaders to answer pre-submitted questions in a panel type of forum. The initial panel will include four CISOs and directors of security, Beth-Anne Bygum of Acxiom, Phil Clark of AECC, Jason Cathey of Bank OZK, and Devin Shirley of Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield.

“Ask a CISO” is the first program developed by the Arkansas Cyber Defense Alliance (ACDA), which is an alliance of cybersecurity leaders working to position Arkansas as a “cyber defense state” and is the private-public alliance referenced by ACT 1085 of 2019 the “Arkansas Cybersecurity Initiative (ACI)”. ”When we worked to pass ACT 1085 of 2019, it was critical that both the private sector, academia and public come together to align efforts to further secure Arkansas from cyber criminals and to leverage cybersecurity as a strategic economic initiative. The ACDA is the implementation of those goals and “Ask a CISO” is the first step to developing capability in our startup and small business communities,” said Lee Watson.

“Everyone should be concerned about security, from the highest ranked executive to the newest service representative and from the largest to the smallest business” said Devin Shirley, CISO of Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield “therefore, security should not only be a technical issue, but a business issue.”

As a leading provider of cybersecurity training and other services, Forge Institute has populated a highly motivated community of experienced CISOs eager to share their expertise. Those who participate in the program may gain valuable insight into implementing risk management and mitigation policies, or develop a self-inspection framework to better allocate their limited resources.

“It doesn’t matter how big you are; every business and organization is a target for malicious cyber actors,” explained Scott Anderson at Forge Institute. “Our new ’Ask a CISO’ program lends expertise to startup and small business leaders, which is critical as they begin to think about cyber risk management.”

The “Ask a CISO” program is conducted online in a question-and-answer panel-based format. The demand for hardened cybersecurity has - increased with the change in cross-industry threat landscape and ongoing supply chain issues.  There is a need for such a program to support thriving entrepreneurial firms.

“According to research published by the Kauffman Foundation, startups and small businesses account for nearly all net new job creation. Ensuring a thriving entrepreneurial and business sector is critical to enhancing the communities in which we live.” said Lee Watson, CEO of Forge Institute. “The Ask a CISO program helps provide much needed advice to entrepreneurs and small business owners so they can develop a practical approach to managing risk as they grow their businesses.”

“It is only through our combined efforts, collaborating and sharing insights with intention will we make significant progress across our respective industries; it starts with efforts like this Forge Institute program.” said  Beth-Anne Bygum, Chief Security and Compliance Officer for Acxiom   

According to a recent SBA survey, 88% of small business owners felt their business was vulnerable to a cyber-attack. Yet many businesses can’t afford professional IT solutions, have limited time to devote to cybersecurity, or they don’t know where to begin. The situation is more complicated when startups develop their tech solution on cloud platforms and don’t always build securely while searching for product-market-fit. “Ask a CISO” is a good first step to developing a solid IT foundation which will help keep the business and customers’ information safe.

Quoting Benjamin Franklin, Jason Cathey, CISO for Bank OZK said “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

“Ask A CISO” is presented as a panel of 3-5 CISOs assembled quarterly, with participants receiving access to Forge Institute’s Learning Management System (LMS) with all recorded panels for up to 12 months.

 To register, submit a question, or to learn more, visit www.forge.institute/askaciso.

Key Facts

• Forge Institute has launched a new program called “Ask a CISO”

• The unique and innovate program creates panels of expert chief information officers and cyber leaders to lend expertise to small-and-growing businesses in and around Arkansas

• The first “Ask a CISO” panel is January 25th, 2022