Chief information security officers and their teams must lead their organizations into adopting safe business practices. In our increasingly connected world, this goal is more important than ever. Speaking the language of the C-suite and the board, and translating information security into business terms is key for CISO success.

The General Session at this year’s (ISC)² Security Congress will help CISOs chart their paths to successful leadership and cybersecurity practices. “CISO Impact: Driving Security Into the Business” will be presented by Phil Gardner and Stan Dolberg. Both speakers are executives at IANS, an information security advisory and consulting firm: Gardner is founder and chief executive officer, and Dolberg is chief research officer.

The session is based on IANS’s data-driven leadership framework, CISO Impact^TM, based on research with more than 1,000 information security teams, including many (ISC)² members. The session will take place on Thursday, September 15 from 8:00-9:00 a.m.

Gardner founded IANS in 2001 and currently oversees strategic and operational decisions. He has seven years of service in security with the U.S. Navy as a strike fighter pilot and ordnance requirements officer. He received his B.A. from Harvard University, as well as his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Dolberg has been the chief research officer at IANS since 2015. Before joining the organization, he ran his own consulting firm working with CEOs and boards of technology companies, addressing key questions about markets that affect sales velocity. He received his B.A. from Harvard University and his MBA from the Carroll Graduate School of Management at Boston College.

Along with the General Session, full-conference attendees will have access to more than 90 educational sessions, as well as the exhibit floor, Career Pavilion, and Solutions Theater. This year’s Security Congress event has 11 tracks:

• Application Security/Software Assurance
• Cloud Security
• Forensics
• Governance, Regulation and Compliance
• Incident Response
• Malware
• Mobile
• People Centric Security
• Professional Development
• Swiss Army Knife
• Threats: Inside & Out
• Threat Intelligence

While the first session takes place Monday morning, September 12, (ISC)² members are invited to attend the annual Town Hall meeting the day before, Sunday, September 11. (ISC)² leadership, including CEO David Shearer and board members, will be available to answer questions about membership, certifications and more. Questions may be submitted to the panel via email at congress@isc2.org or tweet them to us on Twitter @ISC2Congress (Use #Congress16TownHall). 

This year’s (ISC)² Security Congress will take place in Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center from September 12-15, 2016. The event will be co-located with the ASIS International 62^nd Annual Seminar and Exhibits, once again bringing together operational security and cybersecurity professionals. As the best-value and largest industry event of the year, more than 20,000 professionals from around the world are expected to attend. For more information, or to register to attend, please visit http://congress.isc2.org/ .