Time for your New Year cyber detox?

Friday, 13 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Alastair Paterson

The festive period is over, the mince pies, turkey and other excesses are finished for another year and we start the New Year with hope and optimism and often New Year’s resolutions.

Equally in the corporate world we need to start the New Year with fresh plans and schemes, but at the same time ensure we focus on the key challenges that can help our businesses move forward to ensure 2017 is our most successful ever, while addressing the challenges which could derail that success.

But while the year might be new, many of the Cybersecurity challenges we face are far from new, but it is equally important that we address them for the data security and integrity of our businesses.

If I had been writing this blog even three years ago, it is probable I would have talked about needing to recognise the cyber risk and not bury our heads in the sand to the industrialised threat caused by professional cybercrime.

Today in 2017, I don’t think anyone could be in any doubt about the challenge and threat cybercrime is to all businesses, of whatever size and industry.

So the start of a new calendar year is a great time to take stock of our cybersecurity posture and risk profile and ensure we are ready to meet the challenges the future holds.

We know that ransomware and extortion will continue to be a huge problem in 2017 particularly making advantage of insecure Internet of Things devices with the Mirai Distributed Denial of Service technique. Also Data Breaches remain a huge challenge for businesses and governments whether deliberate or accidental.

But while these are likely to be the most common threats faced in 2017, we also know that it is probable new, unforeseen challenges will arise in 2017 and to be ready for them, we need to ensure our security teams have the cyber intelligence and awareness at hand to quantify and manage those new threats as they materialise. After all you can’t defend what you don’t understand or know about.

We also know we cannot do everything, so cybersecurity in 2017 and beyond is about prioritising the threats and managing those that will have the most damaging impact on your business.

So is it time for you to have a New Year Business Detox, and ensure you have the cyber intelligence to measure this risk and prioritise the potential impact to your business?

I think it probably is. Happy New Year.

(The writer is CEO and Co-Founder of Digital Shadows).