CISOs Are Gaining C-Suite Swagger, but Has It Come With a Cost?

## Executive Summary The article reviews findings from Splunk's CISO Report 2025 showing that more CISOs now report to CEOs and regularly engage with boards, but many still face greater job difficulty due to insufficient budgets and limited board cybersecurity expertise; organizations with board members who have security backgrounds report better alignment on strategy, goals, and funding, and the piece recommends continued efforts to educate boards and integrate cyber expertise into the C-suite to improve resilience.