Maintaining Digital Security Through Digital Transformation
Over the past 2 years, digital security has been in the crosshairs of the business community. Chief Security Information Officers (CSIOs) and IT decision-makers have had their work cut out for them, balancing the need for security with the remote requirements brought about by the pandemic.
To make things even more difficult, since the pandemic started, cybercriminals have felt emboldened by the vulnerabilities created by the quick and unplanned switch to remote business solutions.
“IT and operational technology (OT) integration also brings new connectivity, data sources and potential vulnerabilities that need protecting.”
The added pressure put on the digital infrastructure that companies had to rapidly throw together ad hoc created holes in online platforms and overall digital security.
To counteract this trend, as we enter 2022, digital transformation — and specifically the security of a business’ technology stack — is becoming a bigger area of focus and investment for across all industries.
Digital transformation is, in a nutshell, the adoption of, or switch to, digital-first solutions throughout an organization’s departments, teams, process, workflows, etc. (more on digital transformation here).
The relationship between digital security and digital transformation is symbiotic, where both need each other to be successful and thrive.
In order for digital security to be up to the challenge of today (not to mention compliant), the right infrastructure must be adopted by a business. The challenge with this comes down to speed.
Digital transformation tends to be rapid process that involves nearly every internal process and tool. This makes the task of adding, improving, and testing security measures a daunting one.
When it comes to security and digital transformation, it’s not a chicken-and-egg scenario, but rather a transformation of how your business views security and the emphasis placed upon it.
Making Digital Security a Priority Now
Digital security simply cannot be ignored or kicked down the road. On average, a cyber attack occurs every 39 seconds.
As more and more businesses shift to remote and hybrid workplace models, they are discovering the benefits, such as cost savings, a bigger hiring talent pool, better work-life balance, improved collaboration with additional office locations, and more.
However, having employees work in a variety of locations, on home networks, using a variety of digital tools, can increase the risk of security breaches if adequate security measures are not put in place.
“Cybercrime Up 600% Due To COVID-19 Pandemic”
There is no substitution for immediate digital security improvements, vulnerability checks, and security audits — it needs to be a major concern for c-suite executives and IT departments
While every company, country, and industry is different, every organization should ensure they are meeting all relevant security compliance standards specific to their business — such as HIPAA, SOC2, ISO27001 and others
Businesses also need to have an active digital security plan in place that includes network monitoring and assessment. This includes having an incident response plan in place in the event of a successful breach.
Such plans are unique to the business that implements them, but ideally, your plan will be on that will (quickly!) deploy to contain the invading vector/threat, eradicate it, and re-secure the system.
Another under-rated piece to the puzzle regarding digital security is employee training of behaviors and best practice. As much as 88 percent of data breaches are due to human error, therefore, educating team members on the safest way to approach work and digital hygiene becomes critical.
The Advancement Attached to Digital Transformation
When digital security is put at the forefront, the full power and potential of moving away from analog and manual processes, products, and procedures attached to digital transformation can be experienced with minimal risk.
Digital transformation is a necessary business investment in 2022 as competitors are also adopting newer technologies and software to enhance their operations. Those that stick to “the old ways” or are slow to react risk losing valuable market share that may prove to be impossible to recover.
By adopting digital transformation, you can equip yourself and your team with a more effective and diverse set of tools for virtually every task. Even the simple, everyday experiences that are often an afterthought — like taking notes or collaborating on a whiteboard — can be exponentially improved with digital alternatives.
With a wealth of tech and solutions available at your fingertips, like AI, automation, machine learning, the ROI of digital transformation quickly becomes clear.
But even when these solutions to increase productivity and make better use of data are brought into the workplace, the problem is that companies are too quickly onboarding them too quickly, often without planning, diving into security considerations and capabilities, or having the proper controls in place.
While the benefits and the potential un-tapped ROI of digital transformation are attractive, it can’t be done without equal or greater attention paid to how to secure the vulnerabilities that come with new programs and applications
According to Ponemon's Digital Transformation and Cyber Risk report, 82% of IT security and C-level respondents said they experienced at least one data breach because of digital transformation.
Fortunately, software providers (like Stormboard) are well-versed in the language of digital security, which can help organizations move forward with their digital transformation plans confidently.
Combining The Two and Seeing Better Business Collaboration
Digital transformation can come in waves and phases, or it can overwhelm your IT team as they try and keep up — thoroughly researching proposed solutions, leveraging the expertise of security leaders, and evaluating options.
However, when you can trust a solution’s security, the transition to new digital tools is much faster and virtually seamless.
Tools like Stormboard are at the forefront of the issue of security. Businesses across multiple industries are adopting Stormboard; we know this can be a challenge so we are constantly auditing and improving our impressive security standards.
Stormboard is built with global enterprises in mind, offering security options like single tenant architecture, two-factor authentication, Transport Layer Security encryption, and the capability to store your data according to your organization’s policies with Data Residency.
With security and software working to benefit each other, businesses can unlock a higher degree of collaboration amongst themselves
If you’d like to learn more about what Stormboard is doing to keep your data safe and secure, contact us today to talk to an expert, or book a demo to see how our digital whiteboard solution can be the catalyst for your team’s productivity.
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