Evolution of the CSO

It's been almost 15 years since David Kent first came to Genzyme, a biotech firm headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., that develops medical treatments for ailments such as certain genetic diseases and some forms of cancer. In 1994, the company had less than $200 million in sales, and only about 1,000 employees-a stark contrast to its worldwide workforce of 11,000 today and the $4.6 billion in revenue it reported in 2008.

Kent's first experience with Genzyme was as a consultant. The company had lost some of its intellectual property through a theft, and Kent-then working for Bolt Beranek and Newman as a security manager-was called in to help evaluate the situation. His work with the firm grew into a job offer to be Genzyme's director of security. The goal was to have someone aboard with an intense focus on the security position of the organization to prevent other thefts from occurring.

"At that time, I think there were about nine different card access systems. One person was handling their voice and data and their office services," says Kent. "It was an organizational design reflective of a rapidly growing business. There was no thought put into security, it was a lower priority. It was sort of a barren landscape from my viewing."

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It's been almost 15 years since David Kent first came to Genzyme, a biotech firm headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., that develops medical treatments for ailments such as certain genetic diseases and some forms of cancer. In 1994, the company had less than $200 million in sales, and only about 1,000 employees-a stark contrast to its worldwide workforce of 11,000 today and the $4.6 billion in revenue it reported in 2008.

Kent's first experience with Genzyme was as a consultant. The company had lost some of its intellectual property through a theft, and Kent-then working for Bolt Beranek and Newman as a security manager-was called in to help evaluate the situation. His work with the firm grew into a job offer to be Genzyme's director of security. The goal was to have someone aboard with an intense focus on the security position of the organization to prevent other thefts from occurring.

"At that time, I think there were about nine different card access systems. One person was handling their voice and data and their office services," says Kent. "It was an organizational design reflective of a rapidly growing business. There was no thought put into security, it was a lower priority. It was sort of a barren landscape from my viewing."

His first project was to look at the situation around laboratory and notebooks in order to ensure there would not be a repeat theft incident. After that, he moved on to assessing the physical security of the building and addressing the multiple card reader situation by implementing a single card solution. Kent and his team began pushing for security standards around the corporation, slowly picking away at information systems security challenges as well. It was a forge-ahead and forward-thinking philosophy for security that had not been seen before in the firm.

"Left to its own devices, we wouldn't have the program we have today. We would have separate silos. There had to be someone in the organization to drive this stuff."

As the company grew, more emphasis was placed on security. But it was the Bio International Exposition held in Boston in 2000 that gave Kent the perfect opportunity to show how his department could go beyond reactive protection to proactive security.

"It was the first major East-coast meeting following WTO [the World Trade Organization meeting] in Seattle. The members of the Genzyme senior management team were the chairs for the meeting in Boston. We were asked to coordinate security around the meeting. There were about 14,000 people expected in for this event, and demonstrators could shut down the show." Kent says for several months he talked with area law enforcement agencies and other companies that might be targeted for demonstration and urged them to prepare. By the time the event arrived, Genzyme security officials had coordinated the work of 80-plus agencies and was holding regular meetings with multiple organizations. (See another case study on event security planning, in this profile of Boston's 2004 Democratic National Convention.)

On the opening day of the expo, 3,200 demonstrators turned out in front of the hall. Their presence, according to Kent, was uneventful; exactly what he hoped for.

"Nothing happened," he says." So we got tremendous visibility for that. When bad things happen, you've got to have the ability to have a good response. Those are the things they remember."

Soon after the event, Kent was elevated to vice president of security. The promotion, he says, marked the official beginning of the security group operating under a CSO model.

A Skill Set Beyond Security

Kent's experience at Genzyme is familiar at organizations around the world that have decided to place a top security officer, a CSO or a CISO, to be the key point of responsibility for a company's security. We've seen this position increase in numbers for more than a decade now. But as it has grown, so has the expectation of organizations who are hiring CSOs. As security programs become more robust and sophisticated, so, too, do the expectations of companies who have a top security officer in place. CSOs are now expected to expand their skill set: Those with technical backgrounds must understand facets of regulation, compliance, security and risk beyond the data center. CSOs from a physical security career, such as law enforcement or the military, must also have an understanding of information systems and the threats posed to their organization's data assets beyond just the facilities they are housed in.

It is an evolution that was expected among industry analysts when the first CSO roles began appearing in corporations. Much like how the role of the CIO has changed, it was inevitable that CSOs would have the same experience.

"They, of course, share the same problem that CIOs have traditionally faced," says Paul Saffo, a Stanford University professor, forecaster and essayist with a focus on long-term technological change and its impact on business. "CIOs have been the Rodney Dangerfields of management. 'I don't get any respect,' because their work is so arcane. The other XOs never understood it, or even tried, until recently. CIOs are moving past this stage slowly, but I think the CSOs are still hitting this."

However, while corporate perception of the CSO role is still unfolding, the job has some history to it, and recruiters and hiring managers are becoming savvier about what they want in a security executive, according to Tracy Lenzner, CEO of The Lenzner Group, an executive recruitment firm specializing in security.

"Clients are getting more sophisticated in what they are looking for and what they need," says Lenzner. "Now we are in the second and third generation of these roles. Some companies are looking at these areas for the first time, but, by and large, companies are filling roles for people who had been there previously."

From Techie to Business Executive

In the early days, information security professionals were viewed as two things, according to Steve Katz.

"Highly technical, and the people who consistently said 'no'," he says.