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CISO Spotlights

Glossary

What is a chief security officer (CSO)? The CSO versus the CISO, defined

A chief security officer (CSO) leads security as a whole: people, sites, information and often cyber. How the CSO differs from the CISO and how to read the title.

Term: Chief security officer (CSO) · also CSO, chief security officer

By the CISO Spotlights Desk · Published · 4 sources

A chief security officer (CSO) is the executive accountable for an organization's security as a whole, a remit that can span its people, sites, information and, in many companies, cybersecurity. Where a company has both titles, the chief information security officer (CISO) usually leads information and cyber security and the CSO holds the wider brief; where it has one, the title alone does not settle the scope.

How the CSO differs from the CISO

A standard statement of the CSO model comes from ASIS International, an accredited standards developer for security management. Its standard ANSI/ASIS CSO.1-2013 describes a senior security executive who sets one integrated security and risk strategy, covering threats to tangible and intangible assets. It treats CSO as a label for a function, says the role can be a standalone post or folded into another executive's duties, and does not prescribe the title.

The CISO is defined more narrowly. New York's financial regulator, in 23 NYCRR Part 500, defines the CISO as the qualified individual who oversees and implements a firm's cybersecurity program and enforces its cybersecurity policy. Government shows the broader CSO remit: the Office of the Chief Security Officer at the Department of Homeland Security describes its mission as protecting the department's people, information and resources.

Why the title matters in a career

For a CISO, a move to a CSO post can mean taking on security work beyond information systems, as the ASIS model's coverage of tangible and intangible assets implies. The reverse also happens: some companies give the CSO title to a role whose remit is cybersecurity alone. Titles also travel into court records. The Justice Department's 5 May 2023 release on the Uber case describes the defendant as Uber's former Chief Security Officer, though the case is routinely cited in discussions of CISO liability.

How cisospotlights.com reads it

Profiles record the title exactly as the source states it, including combined titles that pair security with technology, trust or strategy. For the career-path studies, a CSO counts as holding the top security seat when the source shows it was the organization's top security role, the same test the site applies to a CISO or any equivalent title.

Where it appears on cisospotlights.com

Related terms

Security leadership titles, head of security and CISO personal liability.

Sources

  1. 1.
    ASIS International, ANSI/ASIS CSO.1-2013 Chief Security Officer: An Organizational Model (preview)webstore.ansi.org · published 8 November 2013 · tier A
  2. 2.
    New York State Department of Financial Services, 23 NYCRR Part 500 (Second Amendment)dfs.ny.gov · published 1 November 2023 · tier A
  3. 3.
    U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Security Officerdhs.gov · published 19 October 2026 · tier A
  4. 4.
    U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Californiajustice.gov · published 5 May 2023 · tier A

Tier A: the organization itself, a regulator or a government page. Tier B: established trade or business press.

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