CS1907

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NATION IN TRANSFORMATION
Inote that a new report (yes, I know - how many more can there be!) is claiming to serve as
a reality check on digital transformation by outlining where organisations actually are in
the process. It must be said this is a topic that's both timely and 'of the moment', as many
enterprises are either already submerged in digital or building up to embrace it.
"So ubiquitous is digital technology in enterprises, that some commentators think the initial
process of digital transformation is nearing fulfilment," says Nominet, which has published the
report, 'Cyber Security in the Age of Digital Transformation' - https://bit.ly/2O99TO2. However,
the digital transformation of industry and enterprises also brings major challenges with it, one
of the most pressing being security.
States Nominet: "A greater exposure to digital technology means a greater exposure to
system vulnerabilities, as the tools being used by businesses to innovate, like AI and machine
learning, could be vulnerable to attack and are also being used by hackers."
Key findings to emerge from the survey of more than 270 CISOs, CTOs, CIOs - and other
professionals with the responsibility for overseeing the cyber security of their organisation -
include acknowledgement that cyber security is the top 'threat' to digital transformation (53%),
while also confirming that many businesses were leaving it to the pre-implementation stage
(28%), implementation stage (27%) or even post-implementation of the digital transformation
strategy (9%) - suggesting a perception gap of when 'early enough' actually is.
Commenting on the report, Cath Goulding, CISO, Nominet, points out the following: "With
digital transformation, you have to be sure that, when you're bringing in new applications,
security is considered from the outset. More than this, though, in a digital transformation
project the real trick is to manage the security considerations of legacy and new applications
simultaneously."
What's most worrying, however, is this other stat: 85% said their security was highly effective,
despite the fact that 86% had experienced a breach in the past 12 months. How blinkered can
an organisation be to see itself as both breached and safe? I 've never been a great fan of the
much overused cliché, which states: 'It's not a matter of if, but when'. Yet I'm beginning to feel
anyone in so much denial deserves to see that mantra carved on their corporate door.
Brian Wall
Editor
Computing Security
brian.wall@btc.co.uk
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www.computingsecurity.co.uk July/August 2019 computing security
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