Chief information security officers (CISOs) should take a central role in corporate social responsibility (CSR), argues a senior sales VP at Stormshield.
Eric Hohbauer, Stormshield’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing and deputy general manager, wrote recently that digital security and sustainable developments should be combined.
“After all, digital investments on enhanced cybersecurity come with their own consequences for companies’ carbon footprints,” he said in a blog post.
“The increase in IT infrastructure such as datacentres and advanced protection solutions leads to increased energy and resource consumption.”
By approaching cybersecurity from this perspective, companies would not only protect critical systems but more virtuous governance, Hohbauer said, and CISOs would play a key role.
At the same time, they could also help tackle energy efficiency goals and focus on development of circular processes, reducing waste and potentially freeing up other resources.
“Companies are now required to align technology decisions with their CSR commitments,” Hohbauer said.
CSR-conscious information security in Europe
Stormshield, a European company, supports initiatives such as France’s Cyber4Tomorrow. This helped promote environmentally friendly cybersecurity practices, he said.
“CISOs must incorporate ethical and environmental indicators into their decision-making. Minimise environmental impacts while boosting stakeholder confidence.”
They could start by managing e-waste and digital pollution.
“As a first step, recycling obsolete products, reconditioning equipment, reducing energy consumption and managing data,” Hohbauer suggested.
Executives can also support initiatives that encourage employees to adopt more responsible digital practices.
“Lastly, redesign data hosting in order to promote more local management, and thus reduce the environmental footprint,” he said.
Stormshield offers NIS2-compliant European solutions for data security, network security and endpoint security.
Stormshield carries out its research and development activities in France. The vendor works closely with the ANSSI cybersecurity agency to review source code, including for the absence of backdoors.
( Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash )
