Transform Digitally with a Robust Cyber Security Strategy

The advent of advanced digital technologies—Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, mobility, online payments, social media—has radically changed the way we live, interact, and transact business. However, in the absence of robust security strategies, technological advancements and increasing digitization are exposing businesses to heightened cyber threats.

Evolving Threats

The problem is compounded with exploding volumes of data. While this big data is a treasure chest of insights that businesses can leverage to fuel business growth, it can also act as an attack vector when cyber criminals access, share, and exploit it to orchestrate complex cyber attacks. A major cause of concern is the criminals increasingly using sophisticated tools and techniques for strategic attacks, often bought cheaply from the dark web. This also means that today's cyberattacks are no longer limited to amateur hackers, but have evolved into organized business rings that are more specialised and have advanced technological expertise.

Lacking Preparation

In its 2018 Global Risks Report, the World Economic Forum has predicted that in the coming decade, the top five risks will include large-scale cyberattacks and major data breaches or fraud. Unfortunately, despite the extent of threats that today's businesses are exposed to, cyber security and privacy risk management is still not woven into their digital transformation strategies. PwC’s 2018 Global State of Information Security Survey (GSISS) has revealed that 44% of the respondents to the survey did not have an overall information security strategy.

Make Cyber security a Boardroom Agenda

An extensive media coverage around rising incidents of data breach and the associated costs of clean-up, have made businesses to sit-up and realize that cyber threats are here to stay; and, it is not a matter of 'if' but 'when' they could become a target. Therefore, cyber security must rank high on the boardroom agenda and a top-down approach be implemented. Businesses of all sizes must take cognizance of their cyber security preparedness and ascertain ways of managing cyber security and privacy risks.

The article has been written by Neetu Katyal, Content and Marketing Consultant

She can be reached here.