Putting cybersecurity at the heart of digital transformation

There are a number of reasons for the escalation in cyber attacks, not least the adoption of social, mobile, analytics, cloud and the “Internet of Things” (SMACT) technologies. As part of the journey to digital transformation, SMACT creates more opportunities for the cyber criminal. It makes the enterprise more vulnerable.

So if you can’t do without your SMACT technologies – and the digital enterprise simply can’t – the way forward is to protect your assets and resources in this new digital landscape. I’m a firm believer that it’s better to embed security as soon as possible, rather than making it an afterthought in your digital transformation.
What do I mean by this? Well, to start with it’s vital to put security at the heart of digital transformation strategies. You need to ensure that as you transform, your business remains resilient. You must define what risks are acceptable, and then put in place protection and monitoring capabilities to prevent those that aren’t.

After all, it is surely cheaper and more efficient to protect up front than have to deal with the ramifications when it’s too late. As an example, a recent Ponemon Institute survey found that the average yearly cost of cybercrime for each large organization taking part in the study was US$7.6m. Of course you also need to add in the other costs, such as reputational damage. Let me point you back to the big names I mentioned earlier in this respect.

With new ways of operating, the modern enterprise has opened new channels into its business. There is a strategic imperative to secure these channels, not tomorrow but right at the start of this digital journey.