Cyber

Digital transformation study

by Mark Rowe

Digital transformation is mainly an IT-led initiative within enterprises, with more education needed for board level decision-makers to support transformation initiatives. Cyber security should be considered at the earliest possible stages of digital transformation initiatives. Where this has not happened, remedial action should be taken fast. And security teams should seek advice from a broad range of vendors and analysts to ensure a comprehensive security solution.

These are findings from a report by Nominet into ‘Cyber Security in the Age of Digital Transformation’. From a security perspective, having the digital transformation team under the umbrella of the IT organisation appears to be the best approach, the paper suggests. When asked to rate the effectiveness of their security stack on a sliding scale of one to ten (ten being the most effective), respondents from organisations where the transformation team is integrated with IT were much more likely to score themselves between seven and ten than those with a separate transformation team (86 per cent versus 14pc). Similarly, when it comes to their organisation’s overall security posture, companies that integrate IT and digital transformation teams are much more likely to be very confident than those with separate transformation teams (85pc versus 14pc).

As to whether to outsource or not, the document made the point that security is as much a product of digital transformation as it is an enabler. Accessing security services from cloud-based providers allows firms to leverage the latest in security innovation rapidly and cost-effectively. Security people interviewed reported that their businesses are aware of the opportunities on offer with outsourcing: 72pc say that their organisation already outsources elements of their transformations.

There seemed to be a correlation between cyber security events and progress towards implementing digital transformation strategies. Where respondents reported a cyber attack within the past 12
months, they were half as less likely to be implementing their transformation strategies as those that have avoided security incidents (22 per cent versus 42pc); although it’s impossible to know if this is a causal relationship.

Cath Goulding, CISO, Nominet said: “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.”

Nominet, which runs the .UK internet infrastructure, and offers cyber security, surveyed Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and others with responsibility for overseeing the cyber security of their organisation.

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