In the role of being a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for a publicly traded company, ensuring the availability of our systems is critical—not only to maintain operational continuity but also to uphold shareholder trust and comply with regulatory requirements. To protect availability, I would implement a few key measures. The first I would implement would be comprehensive backups. Incorporating routine backups could allow for quick restoration of critical systems after incidents such as ransomware attacks, hardware failures, or natural disasters. Another protection I would add would be patch management and vulnerability assessments. Maintaining up-to-date software and firmware through systematic patching is crucial to prevent misuse of known exposures that could cause outages or instability. Lastly, I would enforce strict access controls to prevent insider threats or compromised credentials from disrupting critical services. Network segmentation limits the spread of attacks within the infrastructure. By combining these layers of protection, the company can significantly reduce the risk of system downtime and ensure resilience against a wide range of threats, safeguarding both business operations and stakeholder value.