Security was always an organization’s silent and passive function. Organizations considered it a cost center and a necessary business requirement. Organizations are beginning to see this function rapidly evolve beyond its traditional role into an enabler of future growth.
Organizations do not simply focus on preventing financial losses associated with a cyber breach; they are also focused on enabling an organization’s growth through cybersecurity.
Regulation and Market Access
When a Fintech startup prepares to enter a new market, the startup needs to demonstrate that it has sufficient and effective security controls to secure approval from regulators for that new business operation. Without sufficient and effective cybersecurity, the Fintech startup’s entry into that new market will likely be delayed. Cybersecurity will become an organization’s gateway to entering a new market instead of serving as an impediment to entry into a new market.
Trust as a Competitive Asset
Trust is also becoming an important factor from the perspective of consumers. Consumers have become increasingly aware of the risks associated with cybersecurity breaches. When a business has a cyber breach, consumer trust can be eroded at a rapid pace. It is often difficult for the affected company to rebuild consumer trust, and in many cases, companies can never fully rebuild consumer trust.
Check out: Active GRC vs. Passive Oversight
The board of directors is beginning to rethink the board’s perspective on cybersecurity. The board of directors understands that cybersecurity extends beyond the defense of the organization from a cyber breach. The board of directors is focused on an organization’s preparedness to respond to a security incident. How quickly can the company respond to a cyberthreat? How well can the company recover from a security incident?
Transforming the Board’s Cybersecurity Vision Requires Financial As Well as Cultural Change To evolve from the traditional view of cybersecurity to a transformational view of cybersecurity, organizations must not only invest in cybersecurity resources; they must also invest in changing the culture of their organizations. The board of directors needs to understand how to integrate security into the decision-making of the organization, as opposed to considering security as an afterthought.
Achieving Security and Innovation
However, this transformation can create challenges because there is often a natural tension between the desire to protect against cyberattacks and the inability to promote innovative solutions. The existing cybersecurity environment will typically have significant security controls in place, which often frustrate the innovative capabilities of businesses. In order to achieve this balance, organizations will need to implement adaptive security solutions that are based on the current risk profile of the organization. While adopting adaptive security solutions is promising, implementing such solutions can be complex and time-consuming within large organizations.
Cyber Resilience, Not Just Surviving Cyberattacks Ultimately, cyber resilience is about maintaining momentum, regardless of external pressures caused by cyberattacks. This subtle but important distinction is a key element of organizations achieving long-term strategic success.