Bahrain-based Impact Group’s Syed Azher, Chief Information Security Officer, has been named as a finalist by the EC-Council for Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the Year 2016. The award has been established to publicly recognize top senior information security leaders globally, who hold an increasingly important role in the corporate and social leadership environments for the companies they represent. It is designed to recognize the significance of how information security role plays into the local and global business communities.
It is the first time that a candidate from Bahrain is named among the finalists for the CISO award and Azher is one of only nine from all over the world who were nominated this year. It is an exclusive award that honors one executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices.
The winner’s name will be announced during a special gala dinner to be hosted by the EC Council Foundation as part of the Global CISO Forum and Hacker Halted event on 14 September 2016 in Atlanta, GA, USA.
Commenting, Mr. Zaher Hammouda, Chairman and Managing Director of Impact Group, said: “Azher has outstanding skills in developing and executing information security management strategies in alignment with our organizational goals.
“I’m delighted to be among the finalists and honored to be nominated with some of the leading professionals in this industry.” said Syed Azher, highlighting that the role of a CISO is to address emerging threats in information security, by developing and maintaining information security strategies, utilizing leadership, communication skills and innovative solutions.
Azher serves as a board member for the Bahrain Information Technology Society, leads Executive Advisory Board for Arvensys Technologies in Australia and DifferentX a New Zealand based technology start-up Company. His professional qualifications include: CISSP, CISM, CGEIT, CEH, ITIL Expert, PMP, PRINCE2, and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor. Syed holds a MBA from Chifley Business School at Torren University, Australia, a postgraduate in Business Administration and Information Technology from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, and he has also completed a number of cybersecurity programs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.