FEATURE: 2019: THE CIO’S PRIORITIES
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Business leaders are
constantly on the lookout
for new ways to evolve
their business and with
cyberattackers relentlessly
discovering new
approaches, protecting
against breaches requires
constant surveillance
throughout the entire
network. We hear from
a number of experts in
the field who offer their
advice on how CIOs can
prioritise enterprise
requirements, particularly
in cybersecurity, to
succeed in the new year.
The first lesson, above all others, is to be
aware of the risk level and what this can
mean for a business, as Shannon Simpson,
Cybersecurity and Compliance Director,
Six Degrees, commented: “According to
Gemalto’s Breach Level Index, in the first
half of 2018 alone, the equivalent to 291
records per second were stolen or exposed.
Recently in the UK, cybercriminals stole the
personal and financial details of 380,000
British Airways customers. Cyberattacks
have crossed over into the mainstream and
guarding against security breaches requires
constant vigilance throughout your entire
business, not just from the IT team.
“Damage to businesses following a
cyberattack can be significant, which is
why cybersecurity should be a continual
undertaking that incorporates people,
processes and systems. The recent British
Airways attack offered some key lessons
that businesses should keep in mind when
developing their cybersecurity strategies:
remember that prevention is better than cure;
understand that attack vectors are constantly
changing; and develop a cybersecurity
playbook and keep it updated to protect your
infrastructure against new threats.”
Respect and encourage
the professionals
C
ybersecurity is one of the hottest
topics in IT today and for good
reason. CIOs and other business
leaders are constantly inundated with
headlines about the latest data breach,
ransomware attack or service outage as a
result of a new era of criminal activity. We
spoke to a range of business leaders to gain
insight into what lessons CIOs should learn
and carry forward into 2019.
At the heart of this war on cybercrime is a
new type of IT worker; the cybersecurity
professional. CIOs should be looking to
promote and invest in their cybersecurity
professionals – which should be easy, given
that according to Stephen Moore, Chief
Security Strategist at Exabeam, this is a deeply
rewarding role: “Positive sentiments around
overall job satisfaction, salary and emerging
technology show why cybersecurity is a
great field to work in – on top of the fact that
you get to play a role in keeping important
information out of adversaries’ hands.
Experts discuss
lessons business leaders should
carry forward into 2019
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