Why are more companies making security a C-level job and hiring or appointing chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief security officers (CSOs)? There are many reasons these executives are in high demand.

A CISO or CSO typically is responsible for aligning a business' security initiatives with its enterprise programs and objectives to ensure its sensitive data is protected against cyber threats.

IBM (IBM) noted that a CISO or CSO frequently is responsible for "managing risk and enabling business opportunity" across an enterprise as well.

How a CISO or CSO performs, meanwhile, can have far-flung effects on a business and its customers.

Target (TGT), for example, suffered one of the worst data breaches in history last year. The data breach put millions of Target customers' credit and debit card information in jeopardy and reportedly cost the retail giant $148 million, according to The New York Times.

Target named Brad Maiorino as its first CISO in June 2014. He previously served as General Motors' (GM's) chief information security and information technology risk officer and is expected to help Target prevent future data breaches.

But Target isn't the only company to appoint a CISO recently — check out this gallery for a closer look at five CISOs and CSOs you need to know.

Also, I welcome your thoughts via Twitter @dkobialka or email at [email protected].