In this powerful new episode of Life of a CISO, Dr. Eric Cole issues a wake-up call to everyone living in the digital age: we are in the middle of a cyber war, and most people are walking around completely unaware. He shares real-life stories of family and friends falling victim to text scams and phishing attacks, driving home the point that if these attacks weren’t working, they wouldn’t keep happening. Dr. Cole stresses the need to shift from a peacetime mentality to a wartime mindset—especially online. Just as we wouldn’t hand out personal information to a stranger on the street, we must stop doing so digitally. The key is education—training those around us, especially the less tech-savvy, to recognize and avoid cyber traps.

He then transitions into the responsibilities of a world-class chief information security officer, focusing on one core truth: you can’t protect what you don’t know. In a world overflowing with data—from laptops to phones to cloud platforms—most organizations can’t answer two critical questions: What is your sensitive data, and where is it located? Dr. Cole warns that if we lose track of our data, we lose control over it entirely. With companies going bankrupt and selling off systems that store sensitive personal data, he raises an urgent concern—who really owns your information? It’s time to take accountability, regain control of our data, and secure our digital future.