Digitization is driving each of us across all industries to make dramatic changes to how we approach customers, products, services, and the always-on, real-time information rich marketplace. This race to take advantage of the abundance of opportunities created by the connected world could lead to overlooking one key element—Security.
Before we connect “everything”, take a step back and consider the good and the bad, the upside and downside, the risk versus the reward. Are our productivity gains going to be worth the security risks? How critical are those security risks? Can we use compensating controls that minimize the risks?
Asking these questions will enable us to reap the rewards of the environment of abundance digitization creates while avoiding the potential pitfalls. I call this approach Smart Digitization.
Smart Digitization in the enterprise involves taking a three-pronged approach:
1. Identify the productivity gain or new capability afforded by digitization of your operations, services or products.
2. Perform a risk-based analysis balancing that potential gain or benefit against the impacts to security, operational efficiency, privacy and cost.
3. Design, deploy and monitor pervasive security across your value chain in collaboration with your 3rd party ecosystem.
As, together, we move toward digitization, it is critical to have a keen understanding of our current business models, offerings and value chains. To achieve Smart Digitization, we must holistically assess the risks that may permeate our business as new technology, connectivity and 3rd parties are introduced.
Exploits are more frequent, more sophisticated and present inside and outside of our connected enterprises. Further, the inevitable rise of 3rd party interconnections leads to far more rapid risk escalation.
Clearly, each of us will be dramatically affected by digitization. The future of security leadership demands that we embrace the responsibility and opportunity to build the right security ecosystem for our enterprises to flourish. Trade-offs will be required, and the risk in making the wrong choices will be high.
Smart Digitalization, in this competitive, digitized environment, is a foundation for success: enabling growth, minimizing risk and driving operational efficiency. Bring on the Advent of Security as a Business Enabler!
