Rethinking Cybersecurity: The Onus Is Beyond IT Departments
Imagine the unsettling realization that your invested time, resources, and hard work into building your business is jeopardized by a misstep from your external IT service provider or even your in-house IT team. Such a discovery would indeed necessitate a timely warning, right? This piece serves as that alert.
Over recent times, the threats posed by cyber-attacks have significantly escalated. These threats are far from mere inconveniences; they’ve evolved into potential crises. Regardless of size, businesses are witnessing hacks, resulting in losses ranging from hundreds of thousands to multiple millions. Moreover, the aftermath includes severe reputational tarnishing and the erosion of customer trust. For some, it can spell the end of their business journey. And for many, it translates into prolonged financial setbacks.
Yet, a surprising number of business leaders continue to delegate essential risk assessment and compliance decisions to their IT teams – a responsibility that might be misplaced today.
Consider this scenario: You have an employee consistently bypassing crucial data security measures and repeatedly underperforming in cybersecurity awareness exercises. This lax behavior endangers your company. But should it be your IT team’s responsibility to address this, perhaps by reprimanding or even dismissing the employee? And if you think it’s their duty, when did you last discuss this responsibility with them? Chances are, it was either never or a distant memory.
Here’s the crux of the issue: While many CEOs concur that IT teams shouldn’t bear this weight, they paradoxically let these teams decide on the risk and compliance matters.
Furthermore, many business leaders remain oblivious to the necessity of having such compliance policies. It’s not entirely the IT team’s role to set these protocols – that’s the realm of the CEO.
On a related note, numerous companies have taken out cybersecurity insurance policies to mitigate potential financial losses from cyber-attacks. However, it’s alarming how many insurance professionals lack clarity on the IT prerequisites needed for policy validation. As a result, these agents might not advise CEOs to coordinate with their IT teams to ensure adherence to these prerequisites. Who’s to blame when a cyber incident happens and the insurance claim is rejected? The agent, the IT team, or the leadership?
While a competent IT partner might proactively address these concerns, many are more focused on basic operations rather than advising on enterprise-wide risks.
If you’re keen on genuinely safeguarding your organization from the ramifications of a cyber incident, reach out to our expert advisors for a no-cost discussion. It might provide the clarity you desperately need.
