CISOS, Boards, CIOS: Not dancing Tango. But Boxing.

What happens when parents in the house talk to each other in different languages? What happens when one greets whistleblowers and one shuts the door on them? What makes it easy for burglars - a house with not-enough locks or constant dinner-table arguments on which doors to lock? What happens when Good Cop-Bad Cop start fighting themselves?

- By Pratima H

In a recent study it was unravelled that while CISOs are looking at risks, compliance and threat-gravity from their telescopes, Boards still want to look at it all from their own keyholes of cyber-literacy, downtime, and business metrics. 52% of CISOs prioritise innovating with emerging technologies; just 33% of boards agree it's a priority. Boards are more receptive when CISOs position cybersecurity as essential to business continuity and shareholder value but CISOs still stammer in that lingo. And 28 per cent of CISOs have felt pressured not to disclose compliance issues. These numbers give enough hint of the domestic battles happening inside enterprises, but Prashant Chaudhary, Area Vice President, Splunk India helps us comb these findings with a finer fork.

What are the areas of conflict of misalignment between CISOs and their boards that came up in the recent Splunk CISO Report 2025?

This report reveals that there are many areas of misalignment between CISOs and their boards, even as their interactions become more frequent and reporting lines improve. The manufacturing sector reports the lowest levels of board support and cyber maturity. Only 20 % of manufacturing CISOs feel they have adequate budgets, despite facing the highest volume of attacks.

While 82 per cent of CISOs now report directly to the CEO (up from 47 per cent in 2023), boards remain unconvinced of their effectiveness. Only eight per cent of board members believe CISOs exceed expectations, despite 84 per cent acknowledging they meet expectations. CISOs overestimate alignment on core responsibilities like budgeting and strategic cybersecurity goals, while boards demand clearer ties to business outcomes.