5 CISO Lessons for Leading Security With Less
Security Boulevard, Thursday, July 23rd, 2026
A CISO shares lessons from financial services and higher education on managing security with constrained resources.
Matthew Martin, CISO at Western Carolina University, draws on 20 years in finance to address resource constraints in higher education.
Key strategies include identifying non-budget constraints, listening before implementing changes, using use-case-based policies instead of person-by-person decisions, prioritizing risk over compliance, and adopting continuous control monitoring.
Martin argues that creativity within constraints produces sharper leadership, and that automation becomes essential when hiring additional staff is not an option.