DUBAI, UAE — The recent GISEC Global 2023 conference in Dubai, the Middle East’s most significant cybersecurity event, hosted one of its most anticipated sessions when cyber strategist Mansoor Ahmad Khan took the keynote stage. His address, titled “Cyber Risk Quantification: Measuring the Unmeasurable,” instantly drew a massive audience, swelling the venue to capacity and underscoring the vital need for a new way to discuss digital security.
The atmosphere in the hall was electric, with the highly engaged audience including a cross-section of top-tier professionals. Among the attendees were numerous Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from regional and international enterprises, senior figures from Government Ministries and Regulatory Bodies, and leaders from the Banking, Energy, and Critical Infrastructure sectors. These high-profile delegates came to hear a solution to one of their biggest problems: communicating cyber risk in a way that board members and CEOs can truly understand.
Mr. Khan was clear in his central message: for too long, cybersecurity has relied on vague, unhelpful terms like “High Risk” or “Critical Vulnerability.” This language fails to convey the true business impact. His keynote forcefully argued that cyber risk is, in fact, entirely measurable and must be translated into the only language that matters in the boardroom: money.
Moving Beyond Guesswork: The Financial Core of Security
The session provided a deep dive into the methodology of Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ). Mr. Khan explained how modern analytical models, which use large-scale data and statistical methods, allow organizations to calculate the probable financial loss from specific attack scenarios. Instead of saying a system is “high risk,” companies can now forecast a $5 million to $15 million loss from a specific ransomware attack with a 15% probability over a year.
This shift, he explained, is a game-changer. It transforms cybersecurity from a cost center struggling to justify its budget into a strategic function capable of making smart, financially grounded decisions. Mr. Khan highlighted key benefits for the high-profile attendees:
- Smart Investment: CRQ allows leaders to prioritize spending on security measures that deliver the biggest reduction in financial loss, stopping the cycle of simply buying the newest technology.
- Clear Communication: It gives CISOs a shared language with the CEO and the Board of Directors, ensuring security decisions are treated as vital financial decisions, not just IT issues.
- Regulatory Preparedness: By understanding the financial impact of data breaches, organizations can better prepare for regulatory fines and compliance costs.
Mansoor Ahmad Khan concluded the powerful keynote by challenging the industry to discard outdated qualitative methods. He asserted that in today’s fast-moving digital world, the only way to genuinely manage risk and build robust business resilience is to embrace the discipline of quantification. The enthusiastic response from the huge, high-level audience confirmed that the age of guessing cyber risk is finally over.
