Meeting the changing demands of cyber security

Cyber attacks are becoming more frequent in the business world today. In light of this, cyber security has become one of the leading concerns for UK businesses. Research conducted by Serviceteam IT in August 2017, revealed over a third of respondents had experienced an increase in cyber security incidents in the past 12 months.

The Technical Director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has predicted that at some point in the next few years, a Category 1 national level cyber attack will occur in the UK. A change in thinking regarding cyber security is required from both organisations and the government in order to prevent such an attack from occurring. The Technical director of the NCSC has warned that it may take the inevitable category 1 attack to catalyse such changes to be made.

What changes need to be made in organisations to meet these changing demands?

Utilise your workers

Branded as the ‘weakest link’, employees have been blamed by cyber security professionals for the past 25 years for weaknesses in the security system. It has been argued however, that these are the people that create the value within an organisation. If this is the case, how is it that employees are labelled the weakest link?

The problem lies in the fact that systems are often designed by techies for techies. Ordinary people, that make up the majority of many workforces, are therefore not able to utilise the system in an effective way that ensures security. This needs to change.

People can transform from the weakest to the strongest link in an organisation, if the systems are made more usable. If you can leverage your people better, they can become the first and last line of defence in an organisation. It’s time to stop blaming the users and start modifying the system.

Getting ahead of cyber attacks

There is an opportunity for firms to get ahead of cyber attackers. Organisations need to work with employees to uncover new possibilities instead of relying solely on shelf security solutions. Non-expert technology users are argued to be the secret weapon in the defence systems of the future.

At the moment, organisations are reliant on non-experts making good IT decisions. Training in the past has not been effective in engaging people and ensuring they are trained correctly. These people need to be trained more effectively to enable firms to get ahead of attacks and prevent them from occurring.

Technology collaboration

Currently, the major concern regarding cyber security is the speed of action following an attack. This focus needs to shift in order to win. Organisations need to be able to predict attacks with the aim of preventing them from occurring.

In order to do this, insight can be gained from merging technologies such as AI with the masses of non-experts within organisations. Consequently, there is a need for experts in sociology and psychology in security development teams. These experts will be the most effective in engaging the masses of non-technical users and understanding how they will respond to changes.

Ultimately, there is therefore a need for businesses and the government to change their approach towards cyber security. Security needs to be easier for users to carry out as people are key. As the users of technology, their needs need to come first in order to maximise the strength of security within organisations.

If you’re interested in cyber security, check out some additional blogs surrounding this topic on the website.