Forty per cent of professionals report that managing increasing amounts of data and connected device security pose the greatest cybersecurity challenges to their organisation over the next 12 months, according to a recent Deloitte poll.
Respondents also identified third parties and extended enterprise (16.3 per cent) and managing digital identities (13.5 per cent) as the next largest challenges. Yet, only 14 per cent report their organisation's cybersecurity program as mature, with cyber risk managed holistically across the enterprise. Irfan Saif, Deloitte risk and financial advisory cyber risk services principal, says: “The hyperconnected and increasingly intelligent nature of today's world requires organisations to continually rethink their approach toward cybersecurity. “Cyber risk is more ubiquitous than ever before, and has to be embedded into the very crux of business operations in order to manage the challenges that organizations are facing now – and to prepare for new challenges that will undoubtedly arise in the future.” When asked how confident they are in their organisation's ability to manage cyber risk and information security, fewer than one in five (19.4 per cent) said they are “very confident”. And when it comes to mitigating attacks on digital identities, the poll reveals nearly 30 per cent of respondents report the rise of cloud computing and mobile internet access as the greatest challenge. Emily Mossburg, Deloitte risk and financial advisory cyber risk services principal, says: “With digital identities at the core of how systems are accessed and used, recognising where and how to leverage automation and robotics is important to achieving better scale and speed of execution while simultaneously protecting the organisation's valuable assets. “Organisations are also shifting the way they maintain and manage data by storing more of it in the cloud, which adds complexity and an additional layer of risk. “Addressing cyber risk as a core principle from the onset can help to better mitigate these risks and both accelerate and enhance the potential outcomes of digital transformation initiatives.” Deloitte says that, when considering how to strategically leverage cyber risk as a business advantage, companies should take into account the following:
- Rethink the approach. Consider the end-to-end process and evaluate cyber risk at the earliest stages of innovation to drive business transformation.
- Utilise automation, robotics and analytics to manage velocity and scale in domains such as IoT and mobile.
- Use digital identity to manage human and machine credentials. Focus on user experience and usability to drive adoption and simplify design, mitigating cyber risk at the outset.
The survey was conducted earlier this year, as part of Deloitte's webcast, Cyber risk: Maturity and ubiquity in the fourth industrial era, and polled more than 2,471 professionals about cyber risk management in their organisations. Poll respondents were from a range of sectors, including banking and securities (18.7 per cent); technology (12.1 per cent); and travel, hospitality and services (9.3 per cent).
