In a perfect world, businesses would operate undisputedly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, but unfortunately the world we live in is far from perfect. Things happen and when they do, it can cost the company millions of dollars to recover. That is why, the ability to carry on in the face of adversity highly depends on the resiliency of the organizations systems.
But first, let’s get one thing straight. Many people confuse cybersecurity and cyber resilience, but there are more differences between those two definitions that one could imagine. Cybersecurity focuses on protecting the enterprise from cyber-attacks, with tools, such as firewalls, VPNs, anti-malware software, etc. While cyber resilience focuses on the measures when cybersecurity fails or when systems crash due to human error, power outages or weather related circumstances. In general terms, cyber resilience is organisation’s ability to continuously deliver the intended outcome by preparing for, responding to, and recovering from adverse cyber events.
Cyber-attacks and various other disruptions occur in enterprises across all sectors of global economy. As a matter of fact, cyber threats are one of the most significant issues confronting our economy and can potentially cause irreversible harm if systems are compromised through different malfunctions or malicious software. According to the statistics, it is anticipated that by 2022, 65% of the global economy will be digital economy. As humanity is moving towards a more connected digital world, preventing adverse cyber events from occurring becomes even more critical.
Enterprises that provide power and water supply, transportation, healthcare, banking, information and communications services to the masses are the key players that the global economy rely on. Therefore, their safety and security measures have to be up to the highest standards. For illustration purposes, let’s say there is a disruption in energy sector due to a potential cyber-attack. As a result, there would be a significant reduction in electrical power generation, which would lead to disastrous consequences, such as a forced shutdown of electronic controls, water supply, financial services, road traffic systems, etc.
All things considered, as the world is becoming more digitised, cyber risk is on the rise with cyber-attacks multiplying on yearly basis. That is why it is crucial for companies to take immediate steps towards cyber resiliency to ensure their safety and the well-being of others.
Sources:
https://www.microfocus.com/en-us/what-is/cyber-resilience
https://techbeacon.com/security/cyber-resilience-what-it-why-it-matters-how-get-started
https://www.cnbc.com/advertorial/boosting-confidence-in-a-data-driven-world/
