CIOs have a unique vantage point over their organization. From where they sit, they see efficiencies, pain points, and potential weaknesses across all departments. This level of visibility is invaluable in today’s intricate, technology-driven, and information-rich business landscape.

Unfortunately, 2015 saw some seriously impressive information security hacks, the likes of which included those at major companies and entities like VTech, T-Mobile, the FBI, and even Trump Hotels. The silver lining? At the very least, hacks involving large organizations such as these garner tons of media attention and headline time, which brings awareness to the growing urgency of greater information security. But security executives like CISOs and CIOs still struggle to see eye-to-eye with non-security executives on the matter.

It’s ten p.m. on a weekend night. You’re relaxing at home when your phone rings. It’s your chief information security officer. Your company has experienced a security incident and panic starts to set in.

Even if you have the greatest product in the world, it won’t sell if no one knows about it. You’ve got to invest in the proper promotional channels to get the word out. The same principle applies to an organization’s compliance program.

Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) aren't what they used to be. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, data breaches exposed over 169,068,506 confidential records in 2015. Before cybersecurity became top talk within the IT world, CISOs were responsible, in general terms, for security. Today, they play a much more integral role in the enterprise.

As CEO of your company, you’ve worked hard to grow the business and ensure success. But there can be a roadblock to future growth of your organization—lack of compliance. This can have several negative effects on a company including loss of customers, fines and a lack of trust among current customers or prospects.

Effective compliance and risk management goes far beyond a set of policies. To be effective, a company’s compliance and risk management program must be embedded in its culture. All too often, companies see compliance as a separate activity that does not need to be integrated into the day-to-day business operations. All employees should share responsibility, and an intelligent risk framework should be created that brings compliance out in the open — letting employees know the importance of compliance while allowing them to communicate. But that’s often easier said than done.

The more advanced technology gets, the more chief information security officers have to worry about. And with hackers waging significant wars on major organizations like JPMorgan Chase and Anthem, their job has become more important than ever.