Security in Digital Transformation

Published by: Insights Desk Released: Aug 12, 2020 Source: DemandTalk

Technology holds a very special place in human life as it is a burning topic of discussion in society. Seeing the nature and speed of technological transformation and how distinct it is now versus earlier eras is enlightening.

Several organizations are looking forward to the change as novel technologies make an entrance into the market. But security is a major concern for these organizations as they invest in the modern and latest technologies to expand their business. Thus, companies across the globe are investing in digital technologies (e.g., social, mobile, AI, cloud, and IoT) because it allows connectivity with more consumers, data, and devices than ever before.

All establishments encounter several risks that can cause reputational damage and financial losses, from natural catastrophes and market insecurity to cyber threats and related technology disturbances. With companies confronting continual fluctuations in the market, business strength is no longer just about the power to adjust and recuperate from disruption, (business continuity planning) but being able to foresee and avert any interruption in the first case.

Despite the vow of digital transformation to propel business initiatives, security concerns are a major worry for the tech officials helming the ventures. About 53% of respondents state augmented cybersecurity risks as their biggest concern. Other concerns include about 36% of risk management or compliance concerns and about 40% of rigid technology infrastructure and legal concerns.

For instance, Gartner forecasted that about 60% of digital business would suffer primary service breakdowns by 2020 because of the incompetence of security teams to cope with digital risk.

Paul O’Rourke, Asia Pacific and Global Financial Services Cyber Leader at PwC Australia, said, “Rapid and widespread adoption of new technologies will likely trigger more security incidents and breaches with an even greater impact – all within the coming years.”

Several enterprises across the globe have been hastening the pace of their digital transformation based on the implementation of important ICT technologies such as the edge/cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and big data. At the same time, enterprises are still suffering from security attacks that are amongst the highly essential impediments in the implementation of their digital transformation agendas.

Recently, the popular “WannaCry” ransomware attack concerned key enterprises all over the globe, such as the National Health Service (NHS) of the UK. Another instance includes a deceitful cyberattack that took place in February 2016 against the SWIFT international transactions system and resulted in the theft of approximately USD 81 million from the Bangladesh Central Bank. These cyberattacks highlight the vulnerabilities of modern cyber-infrastructure, as well as the importance of cybersecurity as an essential component of an enterprise’s digital transformation plan.

Following are the drivers of future cybersecurity:

Limited resources
Technology evolution
Sophistication of attacks
Regulatory complexity

Following are the evolving cybersecurity solution features:

Decentralization and blockchains
Security automation and intelligence
Managed security and security as a service
Cybersecurity datasets and data-driven approaches
Vulnerability databases
Standards
Integrated policies for cyber and physical security

Digital transformation

Digital transformation is all about spinning data into actions, knowledge, and insights. It is one of the top-of-mind chores on every industry’s agenda. Data published by Tech Pro Research states, about 70% of companies either have a digital transformation plan or are creating one. For example, switch from DevOps to DevSecOps, to minimize the attack surface, audit sensitive events, establish secure defaults, and opt for the simplest solution possible.

It covers several project areas, including:

Creating tomorrow’s workplaces, such as collaboration, blending mobility, and communications.
Businesses can take advantage of virtualization and hybrid cloud to boost business continuity planning, cost savings, and flexibility.
Consumer experience and data analytics to harness the power of business intelligence (BI) utilizing big data analytics.

Digital transformation comes with greater risk exposure and needs proper protection, governance, and management. Greater risk also means a risk of opportunities, both positive and negative. The positive risk will enhance the overall business growth, thus adding real value to the business on its journey through digital transformation security. At the same time, negative risk will collapse the expanded business. Thus, security concerns play a vital role in digital transformation.

Security a challenge in digital transformation

The use of enhanced technologies such as IoT, cloud, and automation are facilitating organizations to transform digitally, but they also add security risks. For instance, the IoT trend increases business productivity, but also adds billions of unsafe gizmos to the network.

Emma Stevens, Associate Solicitor, Coffin Mew, said, “Security of business and customer data is considered to be of paramount importance, but there is often a danger that the protection and ownership of this information can be overlooked when implementing new systems.”

Several organizations across the globe are investing in a digital transformation advancement or initiative. Still, security is a major concern among individuals or enterprises as they invest in new technology to expand business on a global level. This means security plays an important role by keeping tech leaders up at night to secure business from any cyberattack.

Cybersecurity Ventures foretold that cybercrime would cost the world USD 6 trillion annually by 2021, up from USD 3 trillion in 2015. Thus, representing the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history. Further, applying a strong cybersecurity strategy could help to manage cyber resilience with confidence.

As per Shan Lee, CISO and DPO for TransferWise, said, “for any IT project it is absolutely fundamental that security is considered from word go, or else you end up trying to retrospectively fit security to a system and that results in gaps and vulnerabilities in the security architecture.”

Thus, we can say, “digital transformation is not a choice; it is a procedure that all firms must go through.”

Following are the advantages of security in digital transformation:

Effortlessly protect data from adversaries looking to develop vulnerabilities during the transformation of digital assets.
Address risk management.
Implement applied threat intelligence into organizations’ security to ensure IT is resilient against the latest threats.
Lessen the intricacy of security architecture and operational models.
Comprehend the cyber defense maturity of the business.
Focus on areas of business-critical risk.
Advance a unified attitude toward cybersecurity to reduce your business risk footprint.
Generate greater consumer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty among stakeholders.

The following example will help you to understand the importance of security in digital transformation.

Digital transformation in airports

The world of digitization is nothing but a shift toward a more connected tomorrow. The democratization, as well as the digital transformation of data, is seen in almost all organizations, and airports are no different.

Today’s airports are investing in novel and advanced technologies to enhance their everyday security, passenger experience, and operations. For instance, as per the report published by the World Economic Forum, the global economic impact of digital transformation will account for USD 100 trillion by 2025. And IATA (International Air Transport Association) states, a total of USD 1.2 to USD 1.5 trillion is anticipated to be spent on international airport infrastructure development by 2030. Digital transformation security has enhanced airport services, including passenger facing services such as self-boarding passes, check-in kiosks, and bag-drop.

Wrap up

In the end, we can say that in this digital world, each and every technology has its positives and negatives. We just need to be more careful regarding its security to save enterprises from cyber infringements. Compliance and security are the two key components for ensuring your business is safe in this digital world. Thus, switching to an enhanced IT security paradigm includes: