All hands on deck

The world has changed dramatically in 2020. COVID-19 triggered businesses' survival instincts, which have accelerated their digitization to succeed in the new reality. The idea that data has become the lifeblood of the organization has been reinforced as boards seek to harness our digital economy's potential, create new customer experiences, transform their services, and drive efficiencies and cost savings in the wake of the pandemic. The future is being created from a fusion of new business models, new technologies, and new partnerships.

In this changing world, cyber threats are mounting, and cyber criminals are posing new challenges to legitimate businesses. Companies need to think differently about protecting their competitive advantage and developing new models to become and remain cyber secure. Cyber security professionals need to demonstrate that they can protect the heart of the transformed business with the agility of thought and action that recognizes the pace and speed at which cyber criminals operate.

They need to assemble the kind of collaborative talent — across the enterprise — that is able to take a proactive stance and meet these issues head on. The CISO can’t do it all. New partnerships are needed, technology is an opportunity, not a threat, and cyber security is becoming a key business enabler.

We picked eight key cyber considerations that will likely shape the way organizations approach security in the new reality and asked our professionals to share their insights and experiences to help you meet the challenges ahead.

To manage costs and ensure business and security priorities are aligned, companies should automate a significant portion of their cyber functionality by putting digitized cyber risk management processes in place to ensure they ladder up to the organisation´s top-line operational and business strategies. 

A new set of expectations around functionality and convenience is expected, with trust as a key component of loyalty. Whoever reigns supreme in terms of the digital customer experience is likely to enjoy the greatest market share. 

Continuing need to elevate the importance of cyber security at the board-level. The biggest challenge is for security professionals to translate their knowledge into an actionable appreciation for what it actually means to the business. 

Cyber-based regulation is moving toward a more holistic approach, focusing on business priorities and responsibilities, and board-driven corporate governance functions. The focus now is on management within the first line of defense. 

Moving forward, the CISO and the security team must develop process and tooling that are vital to, and fully aligned with, the business drivers and the technology needed to support the desired business outcomes from the outset.

The shift to the automation of security functions from identity authentication to threat detection and response has accelerated. There is a greater need for better organized and more efficiently accessible data that can be extracted and analysed for various value-added purposes, including relieving growing cost pressures caused by COVID-19.

Enterproses preparing themselves for the future should reimagine their approach to understanding, planning and executing resilience efforts, encompassing security teams, the business, and the broader operating ecosystem.