Your security team needs to be technically skilled and accomplished at communicating and managing the cyber threats of today's world. Here's professional guidance for asking interview questions that lead to thorough discussion -- and help you find the right individual for your information security team.

As an overall strategy, use open-ended questions to find out how well applicants can talk about what they do, advises Gayla R. Sherry, president of Edmond, OK-based HR consulting firm Gayla R. Sherry Associates, Inc. You might present a hypothetical security situation the candidate needs to respond to.

Get a sense of the past: While you'll have to explain your expectations for the position at your bank, it's a great idea to ask the applicant to tell you about his role and responsibilities at his last job, suggests Leslie Macartney, CISM, CISA, chair of the CISM Certification Board for the Information Systems Audit and Control Association. You might even go so far as to have the individual draw an organization chart for his company and department, she adds. Why? "It gives a good indication of how well the individual understands his current organization, the functions of all the major departments and whether he knows the names of senior managers across the organization," she says.

Get a sense of the future: Another interview question Macartney suggests asking: "If we recruit you, what is the first thing you will do?" Rather than pat responses about lecturing on the importance of security, Macartney says her ideal answer is something like: "I'll meet with senior managers and find out what their challenges are. Once that is known, I'll have enough understanding to start identifying how security can help get those challenges met."