Are You in Control of Your Company's Risk In the Digital Domain?
Globalization and digitalisation offer companies great opportunities for increased efficiency and cost reduction. At the same time, digitalisation complicates the risk landscape. Cybercrime, such as CEO fraud, crypto virus, sabotage, information theft and industrial espionage, can have dramatic consequences and cause significant financial and reputational loss for businesses.
Attractive digital assets
The assets of an enterprise are often digital, in the form of sensitive information or IT infrastructure where such information is processed and stored. Furthermore, many companies’ operational capability depends on digital processes or production systems, often connected to the Internet. These assets and dependencies increase the attack surface for malicious actors who seek to compromise the company’s assets.
Advanced cyber threats, tools and methods
Today’s threat actors are adaptable, often highly advanced, and have access to a variety of online tools to exploit the vulnerabilities of targeted businesses. Technical tools and methods are often used in combination with social manipulation (phishing) to carry out digital attacks. Such attacks can be difficult to detect and protect against. Moreover, the transboundary nature of cybercrime makes prosecution of these malicious actors very challenging. Hence, few cases are investigated and resolved.
The shortcomings of traditional security measures
Most companies today have some sort of anti-virus and firewall solution. As these mechanisms’ primary function is to safeguard against basic known threats and methods, they do not suffice in hindering modern cyber threats. Rather, these security measures are bound to fail sooner or later, which makes it all the more important to establish a holistic and adaptable approach to IT- and information security.
Are you in control of your cyber risk profile?
A smart approach to cyber security involves tailoring the company’s security level to its unique needs and risk profile. This necessitates control over which assets the company possesses and what kind of malicious actors may be after them. Moreover, it requires good situational awareness of how vulnerable the company is to current cyber threats – from both a human, technological and organizational perspective. It is only when one is aware of one’s own risk profile that one can know which security mechanisms are the most cost effective and appropriate to invest in.