Five Questions Every Board Must Answer About Cyber Risk: Professor Kai London's Test

 

By the Finnish Express Business Desk

Professor Kai London, Founder and CEO of Quantum AI Systems Security and UCL researcher
Professor Kai London — Founder & CEO, Quantum AI Systems Security. Credit: professorkailondon.com

As cyber accountability moves onto the board, many directors are unsure exactly what they are responsible for. Professor Kai London, a senior CISO and board advisor, offers a simple test. “Every board should be able to answer five questions,” he says. “If it cannot, it is not governing cyber risk — it is hoping.”

“What could break, who owns it, what it would cost, which control holds it, and where the evidence is. That is board-level cyber governance in five questions.”

From delegation to accountability

Modern regulation deliberately places cyber accountability on senior leadership, who can be held liable. “It has moved cyber from something the board hears about to something the board answers for,” London says.

The five questions

What could break? Know the critical services and their fault lines. Who owns it? Every critical risk needs a named owner. What would it cost? Quantify the impact. Which control holds it? Know the control and whether it has been tested. Where is the evidence? Be able to prove, to a regulator, that it worked.

Evidence over assertion

“The regulator's question has become ‘can you prove it worked?’” London says. Boards that can produce the evidence stand in a stronger position — legally and commercially.

For directors facing rising accountability, London's message is clarifying: cyber governance is not about mastering technology, but about answering five questions with confidence and evidence.

About Professor Kai London. Professor Kai London is a senior technology, security and transformation executive with 25+ years of board- and C-suite leadership across banking, aviation, defence, government and critical national infrastructure. He is Founder & CEO of Quantum AI Systems Security, an Honorary Professor in Cybersecurity, AI & Quantum Computing and a UCL researcher, holding CISSP, CISM, CCISO, ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, ISO 42001, DORA and NIS2 credentials. He is available for board advisory, NED and interim/fractional CISO/CIO/CTO mandates across the UK and internationally. Learn more at professorkailondon.com.

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