Christine Maxwell
CISO
SSE
Christine Maxwell is the Chief Information Security Officer at SSE, one of the world's fastest growing electricity companies. Christine is also an Honorary Colonel in the British Army for the Land Information Assurance Group (LIAG) cyber reserves, spending her evenings and weekends in uniform.
Learn more about the UK & Ireland CISO community here.
Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I started my career as an accountant, but quickly moved into IT audit when I joined KPMG back in the late 1990s. I spent a lot of years in audit, assurance, advisory, consulting and eventually security. I had the opportunity to join RBS as the Head of UK Information Security in 2009 and BP in 2013. I joined the Ministry of Defence as their Director of Cyber Defence in 2019, and when I left, I wanted to continue with a strong mission-focused organisation that is critical to national infrastructure, so SSE is perfect.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Good communication is the mechanism to avoiding many of the business challenges we face.
What is the greatest challenge security leaders face today, and how are you addressing it?
Driving efficient cyber security across a heavily federated organisation.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CISO?
Have a strategy that you are driving towards that the Board has agreed to. Build on your personal strengths and get the right people around you to help you get there. Take baby steps – don't try to do too much, and remember to look back regularly and see what you have achieved.
How do you measure success as a leader?
Feedback from leaders and the team.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
It is an opportunity to share stories and experiences and ask questions that are bothering you.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
By CISOs, For CISOs
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