Why Businesses Are Outsourcing Their IT ServicesRead more
Are you waiting for a multi-million dollar wake up call, or is your board ready to take action? Enterprise boards can’t afford to ignore the clear and present dangers associated with cybersecurity. Â
Cybersecurity is no longer a topic that can be relegated to the IT corner of the corporate board. With organizations spending millions of dollars on projects for innovation, it can be all too easy for the security aspect to be deprioritized or postponed for future budget periods. There is a significant danger associated with taking cybersecurity off the table, as enterprises continue to fall victim to invasive attacks that can cost tens of millions of dollars in remediation, new platforms, customer expenses, retraining staff members, and even retooling of corporate infrastructures. With all of the emphasis on staying competitive and digital business innovation, corporate boards must be able to maintain a focus on the importance of cybersecurity in the broader mix of IT initiatives.
Innovation is often seen as an offensive weapon: getting out in front of the competition and creating an advantage for your enterprise. However, innovation can open up avenues for exploration that are dangerous when left unchecked, particularly when cybercriminals discover these potential tunnels directly to your sensitive information. Striking a balance between innovation and security can be a challenge, particularly when corporate boards and senior leaders are pushing towards the digital transformation of the business. This all points to the greater need for proactive cybersecurity, as a recent study showed that organizations who had not experienced a cyberattack in the previous 12 months were almost twice as likely (42 percent vs. 22 percent) to be focused on digital transformation. This has led many organizations to bring on third-party cybersecurity experts to approach digital transformation holistically with cybersecurity, something that is mission-critical when you consider the severe shortage of qualified cybersecurity talent in the workforce.
One of the most challenging aspects of cybersecurity is not the technology involved, and it’s the human element. Individuals within an organization are posing an increasing threat to the security of your IT infrastructure. Insider threats can cost organizations an average of $8 million per incident. Not all threats are malicious, but a significant portion (64%) involved simple employee negligence. Having a solid understanding of where the threats are coming from can help you create a more compelling argument for your corporate board to green-light additional training dollars and provide ongoing support for these initiatives. This can be a more complicated conversation, as the most publicized cybersecurity incidents in the media are often tracked back to hackers infiltrating an organization, but that could all begin with someone plugging an infected USB drive into a corporate network.
While your board members won’t be directly responsible for creating a robust and secure infrastructure for your corporation, their buy-in and understanding of the dangers that are present are vital to winning their support and funding new cybersecurity initiatives. This often requires an expansive overview of the threat landscape as well as your current cybersecurity readiness, something that can be difficult to achieve, utilizing only internal resources. Call on the professionals at Radius Executive IT Solutions at (978) 523-2174. As New England’s top-rated IT support company for large corporations, the experts at Radius are well-versed in the challenges facing the modern enterprise.
