TCS Risk and Cybersecurity Study.
Further, the study revealed that only one out of six board of directors discusses cybersecurity and security issues “occasionally as necessary” or even “never”, and only two in five boards do so at every meeting or every meeting of the committee of the board.
The survey shows that only 16% of the chief risk officers (CROs) and chief information security officers (CISOs) ranked digital ecosystems as a concern when assessing expected cyber targets, and only 14% listed the risks from such ecosystems as the top priority arising out of board-level discussions.
This can become a cause of concern as enterprises are increasingly relying on digital ecosystems for their growth strategies.
“Companies across the globe are increasingly turning to digital ecosystems of partners, vendors, and competitors to reimagine and grow their business. Ignoring the threats originating from these ecosystems represents a blind spot which needs to be addressed urgently,” said Santha Subramoni, global head, cybersecurity, TCS.
“One way of reducing the probability of an attack within digital supply chains is to implement a ‘zero trust’ policy — a framework based on the principle of ‘never trust, always verify,’ applied not only to humans but also machines.”
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Though companies eye revenues and productivity by participating in emerging digital ecosystems, most companies are too complacent about the risks and threats inherent in such exchanges of data, reveals the survey.
Digital ecosystems were the lowest on the cyber executives’ list of potential hacker targets to worry about despite the growing number of cyber threats using interconnections between companies and industries as attack vectors.
Another crucial problem for enterprises gravitating towards digital ecosystems is the lack of skilled workforce to tackle the rising challenges. Recruiting and retaining top talent with the relevant skill sets to manage, engineer and support cybersecurity technology is the number one challenge for cyber professionals today.
“As businesses look to keep up with rapidly evolving complexities in cybersecurity, the talent gap is widening,” said Bob Scalise, managing partner, risk and cyber strategy, TCS. “Demonstrating a serious commitment to cybersecurity by sustained attention from senior leadership, funding, and process changes will be vital to recruiting and retaining top talent.”
