-Service provides solution to companies affected by massive cyber talent shortage-

NEW YORK, July 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Retained executive search firm Caldwell Partners (TSX: CWL) today announced the launch of its Cyber Advisory Board service – a way for companies to effectively obtain the level of expertise they require and quickly get to industry best practices, amidst massive talent shortages in the cyber security arena.

Cyber risk is arguably the #1 risk facing enterprises today - Ponemon Institute and IBM Security's annual study on the cost of data breaches puts the average cost of a data breach at $3.6 million, and the odds of being breached as high as 1 in 4.

In spite of this, most companies have been caught off guard by a phenomenon that seemingly came out of nowhere. The Target breach of 2013 marked the starting point for the cyber talent war, and the growth in demand has skyrocketed since then. When you factor in the expansion of the cyber leader role to include strong business acumen, board-level communication skills and strong influencing skills, the pool of talent is simply not big enough to satisfy the ever-growing demand.

Companies searching for chief information security officers (CISOs) often find over-priced and under-qualified candidates, and even those willing to play the bubble-market game often lose their candidate in the end to unheard-of counter offers or competitive bids from the countless other searches in play.

Given the talent shortage and growing demand, what can companies do?

Now, Caldwell Partners can help companies assemble a Cyber Advisory Board of recognized cyber industry leaders, tailored to fit a company's industry and unique cyber needs. This solution is especially helpful for clients who opt for step-up candidates or alternately deploy trusted executives open to a career change into cyber security. A cyber advisory board will provide a range of services - from mentoring a company's CISO to helping to develop their cyber strategy to educating the company's C-level executives and boards, all the way to giving guidance on best practices with regard to cyber breach responses.

A Cyber Advisory Board provides a deeper level of expertise and consistency, and additionally goes a long way towards satisfying increased governance on public company boards faced with regulators who are putting more and more pressure on companies to demonstrate a commitment to cyber best practices.

Caldwell Partners has established relationships with more than 100 of the industry's greatest thought leaders qualified to be strategic cyber advisors, giving companies a cost effective way to solve their cyber talent challenges.

Caldwell's Cyber Advisory Board solution is led by Matt Comyns, managing partner of Caldwell's Cyber Security Practice. His focus is on recruiting CISOs and their lieutenants for large global corporations and fast-growing private companies, as well as cyber security consultants for leading professional services firms and top executives for cyber security technology companies. Matt has been on the ground since hacking and cybercrime started showing up on the radar of major corporations, and has successfully recruited more than 100 high-ranking executives in this burgeoning space.

Additionally, Caldwell has assembled a steering committee for the new solution, comprising top-flight CISOs, each with decades of experience and board-tested strategies for addressing cyber risk. For more information about the solution and the steering committee, please visit www.caldwellpartners.com/cyber.

About Caldwell Partners
Caldwell Partners is a leading international provider of executive search and has been for more than 45 years. As one of the world's most trusted advisors in executive search, the firm has a sterling reputation built on successful searches for boards, chief and senior executives, and selected functional experts. With offices and partners across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific, the firm takes pride in delivering an unmatched level of service and expertise to its clients.

The Caldwell Partners' Common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CWL). Please visit our website at www.caldwellpartners.com for further information.

SOURCE The Caldwell Partners International Inc.