A Successful Career Means Plugging Into Your Community

Ken Fishkin, who has been a Governing Body Member of the New Jersey CISO Community since early 2022, is the manager of information security with Lowenstein Sandler LLP. Throughout his work in the security technology sector, he’s found that being involved with the community and giving back has benefited his professional career. 

He advises more CISOs to get plugged into committees and volunteering opportunities. For him, the following committees have helped push his career forward in a variety of ways: President - (ISC)2 New Jersey Chapter, Advisory Board Member – InfraGard NJ, Governing Body Member – Evanta, Executive and Threat Intelligence Committees – LS-ISAO, NJEDA Cybersecurity Executive Working Group, Committee Member of the New York Metro Joint Cyber Security Coalition.
 

In what ways have you participated in the community as it relates to your career as a CISO?

I’ve built a community of cybersecurity professionals from almost scratch to over 400 members, giving me a vast network of peers. I’ve also mentored students from high school to college and provided one-on-one mentoring. This gave me a deeper sense of purpose and encouraged me to continue volunteering more. Mentoring students also helps with cybersecurity and technology recruiting, especially since many student memberships in various organizations are free for them. 

As part of giving back to the community, I’ve organized many educational events on cybersecurity topics. This forced me to learn about security topics that I might not have learned about on my own. One event focused on educating seniors about cybersecurity scams, which provided me the knowledge to give lunch-and-learns to my co-workers about helping their elderly family members. 

In addition, public speaking was something that I wanted to improve upon. I started a public speaking workshop in 2021 that meets monthly to help others practice their public speaking skills in a safe space. Now I host a regular cybersecurity video series for my firm. Over the years, I’ve given numerous talks – whether that be a presentation, panel or roundtable discussion – on subjects including privacy, quantitative risk management and incident response. This forces me to stay up-to-date on the latest news on specific topics, while sharpening my public speaking skills.
 

How has getting involved with the community benefited your role as CISO?

One of the most interesting things that I noticed by volunteering is that the more I volunteered, the more opportunities came to me. For example, after joining the InfraGard advisory board, I got invited to participate in the FBI’s Citizen Academy to learn all about the FBI and become an ambassador for them.

I now have a vast network of trusted colleagues that I can tap into for technical or strategic advice, benchmarking or even utilize them to provide services or products that my firm might need – not unlike the Evanta community. I have also gained a ton more experience in public speaking by hosting cybersecurity events. 

These experiences have made me a much better communicator when meeting with the C-suite and the board.”

A top priority among CISOs is cybersecurity strategies and communicating and measuring risk. How have the outside connections you've formed helped improve your organization's overall security posture and strategy?

I get a chance to meet other CISOs regularly in informal settings where we share our successes and challenges regarding a myriad of strategic topics, so we can both benefit from each other’s experiences. I also have CISOs as speakers and on panels, so I can gain some great advice on a variety of CISO specific topics from seasoned professionals.

Pick an organization that has like-minded colleagues and with a mission that resonates with you.” 

What would be your advice to other CISOs who might not be as plugged into the community?

Volunteer as much as you can because you will be on teams where you will build those necessary bonds that will allow you to develop a network of trusted colleagues. I think you should also help as many people as you can along the way because it will give you a sense of purpose and benefit our industry. Passively joining an organization by just attending meetings produces little yield.  Just be careful not to overcommit and be realistic on how much you can volunteer for.

To learn more from your security and technology peers and participate in discussions on topics most relevant to CISOs, find your local Evanta CISO Community and apply to join today.