Page 61 - Institute Quaterly 5 Final

As cyber-attacks become more advanced, cybersecurity, Palmer across every industry. In addition to a greater number of formerly
argues, must not only become more intelligent but move at face-to-face interactions now taking place online, Chris Huggett, SVP
‘machine speed’. “Finding the right people with the right skills to EMEA, Sungard AS outlines how this has revealed a new relationship
defend organisations is important, but they cannot handle the between cyber resilience and brand reputation.
challenge alone. We need to augment teams with AI that can make
decisions in seconds about what is strange but benign, and strange “While cybersecurity is a universal imperative of business resilience,
but threatening – and not only does it detect the threat, but it there are certain industries in which the reputational damage of a
understands the action that is necessary to stop the threat from cyber-attack can be particularly impactful” he comments.
spreading.”
“Our research shows that organisations in the financial services
The board’s responsibility to conduct ongoing security reviews industry are the most at risk of losing their customer base, with over
Continuing the discussion on accountability and responsibility, Tim two-thirds (67 per cent) of respondents claiming they would switch
Hickman, partner and data protection lawyer at global law firm White providers immediately if they became aware of cybersecurity flaws.
& Case, argues that board-level executives must now take a more The results also show home broadband and online retail service
active interest in cybersecurity. “Recent enforcement trends have providers to also be in high-risk categories, with the potential to lose
shown that a failure at the very top of an organisation to engage – 64 per cent and 58 per cent of the customers, respectively.”
and stay engaged– with evolving cybersecurity threats can result in
regulators launching investigations, with consequent financial and Looking to the year ahead
reputational damage to the business,” he says. Businesses today contend with an increasingly complex landscape
However, the maintenance of robust and legally compliant security of disruption due to rapid change, both in terms of the technologies
systems is becoming ever more challenging for organisations. “In a at the heart of business operations, and in terms of the tools and
world in which business systems are increasingly interconnected,” methods attackers use to exploit them.
Hickman continues, “new vulnerabilities are being discovered –and The world is becoming more and more connected. But a single
exploited– at an alarming pace. Compliance obligations imposed vulnerability – one weak password, engagement with a phishing
on businesses increasingly require those businesses to determine email or a single unpatched device, for example – is still all that
for themselves which cybersecurity measures are appropriate and is needed for a devastating attack to occur. When it comes to
sufficient in the context of their activities. As a result, cybersecurity cybersecurity, businesses and individuals must take both a forensic
measures that were sufficient and appropriate even a few months and holistic approach.
ago may no longer be sufficient or appropriate today.”
As per the theme of this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month,
Cybersecurity in the eyes of consumers businesses and individuals in 2020 must arm themselves with the
Adapting to the sudden change triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic right tools and the right knowledge to remaining cyber resilient.
marked a major test of business continuity planning in every company Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before the next cyber-attack
reveals just how devastating its consequences can be.