Visibility as the Foundation for Early Wins
For Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) starting a new role, the first 100 days are crucial for establishing credibility and demonstrating impact. Gaining visibility across the security landscape is essential for effective action. Without visibility, security leaders risk operating in the dark, making decisions based on outdated or incomplete information, and overlooking significant risks.
A common theme among successful CISO transitions is achieving rapid clarity: understanding what assets are in place, identifying where gaps exist, and recognizing the most pertinent threats. Security leaders cannot address issues they cannot detect, which is why visibility must come first.
Reassessing the Asset Inventory
Many new CISOs find that the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) they inherit is significantly inaccurate, often by 40% or more. These gaps in asset visibility lead directly to risk blind spots. It is crucial to identify unmanaged systems, cloud workloads, and legacy infrastructure to reduce exposure and prioritize protection efforts.
A practical first step involves validating the inventory and classifying assets based on their business impact, especially for customer-facing systems, financial platforms, and sensitive data repositories.
Impact metric: The verified coverage of critical assets should show measurable improvement within the first 30 days.
Closing Telemetry Gaps
Visibility relies heavily on strong telemetry. Even in environments where Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are active, essential log sources may be missing or incorrectly parsed. To build an effective detection strategy, it’s crucial to map telemetry across identity, network, cloud, and endpoint sources.
Using simulated attack paths—such as credential compromise or lateral movement—can help identify visibility gaps and areas with insufficient telemetry. Leaders who prioritize telemetry health from the outset are better equipped to transition swiftly from data analysis to decision-making.
Impact metric: Track the number of new log sources onboarded and the percentage of coverage on high-risk assets.
From Data to Decisions
The objective is not simply to increase the number of alerts, but to provide actionable intelligence. Many inherited toolsets generate unnecessary noise without providing proper context. Modern security leaders collaborate with MDR platforms like Deepwatch to correlate telemetry data, minimize alert fatigue, and highlight prioritized risks.
For instance, Deepwatch’s Cyber Risk and Exposure assesses identity and endpoint telemetry to determine risk-weighted exposure scores. This approach results in quicker insights without the need for a complete overhaul of existing systems.
Conclusion: Visibility Is the Catalyst
Every new CISO must make decisions rapidly, but those decisions need to be based on facts—not assumptions. By focusing on visibility within the first 30 days, security leaders establish a foundation for quick wins, stakeholder trust, and lasting impact.
Learn how other security leaders deliver clarity early:
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