Security professionals have been complaining for years about their inability to influence the organization and that information security is a thankless job. Recent conversations with CISOs and data from Forrester's annual security survey suggest that we have seen significant progress in the visibility and influence of information security. Despite a tightening budget environment, security budgets are on the rise. Security managers now report higher up in the organization hierarchy, and security is taking on additional responsibilities like business continuity and third-party security.