The Single Greatest Cyber Threat
When asked to identify the greatest information security risks their organizations face most if not all would point to technical risks posed by threats both inside and outside their organizations. Yet, in reality the challenge of information security is not a technical problem, it is a business problem. It is a business problem that is made more difficult to manage because of the rapid innovation cycle of technology.
Balancing value of innovative technology with the need for security within the limitations of financial resources has always been the struggle. The availability of information is the very reason information systems exist and yet the confidentiality and integrity of the "available" information must be maintained within a budget that makes fiscal sense. Thus, the lure of cost reducing strategies for implementing system security have simultaneously created opportunities to expand the availability of information systems and exposed them to additional risks. Before the era of the Internet it was cost prohibitive for many organizations to implement wide area network dependent systems, but today with virtual private networking via IP tunneling even the smallest organizations can implement complex distributed information systems with components across the globe. At the same time, with these sophisticated capabilities come a plethora of vulnerabilities that were not of concern in the past. The single most important cybersecurity vulnerability facing IT managers today arises from same technologies that allow them to extend their reach in the realm of global distributed information system
. . . is not what you may think.
The greatest risk lies in the knowledge gap between executives who own the responsibility to manage cyber risk and technology experts who expose the organization to new risks with the implementations of new technology. Effective information security must be governed from the top down, and yet that is not where the organizational expertise in technology resides. For this reason, far too many organizations relegate information assurance to a function of their IT department, which in many cases is not even managed by an executive at the C-level. Until a major security breach like that of Target or Sony occurs, countless organizations fail to recognize the importance of cyber security to their over all success.
The solution is the empower the executive offices with expertise to direct the management of cyber risk. CyberAssure is the right advisory service to provide a strategic, comprehensive way to protect mission critical processes and assets and to check the hand of those entrusted to implement innovative information technology. Everyday information risks are multiplying and the losses that may be incurred because of failing to fully implement a comprehensive cybersecurity are difficult to quantify, but include loss of intellectual property, litigation costs, loss of reputation, loss of consumer confidence, and more. There has never been a greater need to understand the impact that security threats can have on a company's bottom line. CyberAssure will give you the needed situational awareness to manage risk and manage your business.