Take Cybersecurity Seriously or Face the Consequences

While other trends have dominated the news cycles over the past weeks and months, cybersecurity remains a consistent driver for businesses and for the public. Be it public disclosures of our personal data, data breaches that affect a company’s share price, reputation and trust within its customer and user base, or the efforts made to strengthen and secure communications and transactions, cybersecurity remains an overarching trend globally. I touch on this in IIBA’s panel webinar: Cybersecurity Imperatives: Vision 2020 on Tuesday, Mar 31, 2020 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT.  

According to research, spending on cybersecurity products and services will exceed $1tn cumulatively over the period of 2017-2021, whilst we have seen business deals and acquisitions exceed billions of dollars in the amount paid, all in pursuit of making cybersecurity better and more efficient.

The issue has often been, though, that security is seen as a disabler to business, that the IT security team is the ‘department of no’ and always looks for ways to prevent rather than enable. Take the multiple efforts by politicians to access secure communications offered by mobile apps as an example; if encryption were weakened for increased threat intelligence, where does that leave the user and their apparent trust in the brand?

Also consider how much of an impact a security incident can have on a brand. Equifax suffered a major breach in 2017, took nine months to report it and saw its share price drop by 4%, while a class action lawsuit saw attorneys award $77.5 million.

Had the cybersecurity team been better engaged, and maybe even been able, to execute on its plans, this breach may have hurt a lot less.

It is never too late to consider how to make cybersecurity a part of a business’ structure. In research carried out by Infosecurity Magazine of 52 younger people in the industry and students last year, 33 respondents said that they were ready to face the challenges of modern malware and threats. Your business is facing threats, and it is never too late to realize the opportunities of taking cybersecurity seriously.

To help take cybersecurity seriously, IIBA® and IEEE Computer Society have partnered to offer a robust learning and certification program on what people need to know to prepare for cybersecurity challenges. This certification program can help employers know their employees have the foundational understanding needed to mitigate the risks of tomorrow’s cybersecurity threats. Learn more about IIBA’s and IEEE’s Certification in Cybersecurity Analysis.

About the Author:  

Dan Raywood is the deputy editor of Infosecurity Magazine. He has written about IT security since 2008 and is a former Analyst in the Information Security Practice at 451 Research. He has spoken at shows including 44CON, SecuriTay, SteelCon, Irisscon and Infosecurity Europe, as well as writing for a number of vendor blogs and presenting on webcasts.