How IT Security Is evolving from products to enabler

Around the world, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are under intense pressure. They need to ensure their organisations fully comply with the appropriate mandates and that all departments are as protected as possible. It's a big job. 

Depending on their situation, CISOs are likely to react in one of two ways. Some will be confident they have everything in place to facilitate these transformations. Others – a larger group - are likely to question if they have the right infrastructure or the budget to secure it all. 

Whatever the response, there is no doubt that it should not be a technical conversation about endpoints or appliances. CISOs are focused on KPIs, operational efficiencies, and cyber resilience so their attention should be on modernisation and aligning security to business strategy. At this level, the technology rarely gets on the agenda. 

This is an important point as, all too often, security vendors and solution providers are more comfortable operating "in the basement," focusing on delivering siloed solutions. Best of breed or not, it needs to be recognised that the world has moved on.     

Security must be a strategic enabler, not just about providing robust defences. Providers must engage with the business, address its pain points, and demonstrate how the security industry can help organisations go beyond protection—facilitating and accelerating transformation across their operations to gain a competitive advantage.

The reshaping impact of digital transformation
 
From banks and insurance companies to government agencies and auto-makers, digital transformation is reshaping markets. Evolving data products, agile digital ecosystems, and new cloud-based operating models are being planned and adopted across sectors. 

Organisations face multiple (known and unknown) security challenges as they experiment with and adopt generative AI applications and build out their large language models. One thing is for sure: digital transformation was already broadening the attack surface, and AI has just made it that much larger. 

While size is one of the issues, complexity is another, as the infrastructure driving digital transformations is intricate. Legacy on-premises, cloud, edge, and hybrid environments are all part of the mix.

Taking a pragmatic approach
 
With a different perspective on security and with more strategic support from the vendor community, many of these dilemmas can be addressed pragmatically. Viewing security as purely a defensive measure is to miss its very real ability to accelerate transformation. 

Consider the challenges posed by GenAI usage. With governance and practical measures to solve the data leakage issue, teams across your organisation can quickly adapt (and get value from) their copilots and virtual assistants. 

In the same way, it is possible to accelerate the roll-out of new digital apps and services. Changes can be accelerated if boards, shareholders, and regulators are confident that cyber risks can be appropriately managed.
Suddenly, security (or, more accurately, cyber resilience) becomes a cornerstone of digital transformation and something that actually delivers growth. This also means CISOs can attach a value to it rather than a cost, which, in turn, often helps unlock additional budgets or resources. 

The cost of lax security

Right now, business models are almost uniformly reliant on digital technology, and any disruption seriously impacts operations and revenue. While the financial toll of a cyberattack varies, a recent report cited an average cost of US$4.76 million per incident without even considering the longer-term reputational impacts.

Traditional security strategies often focus on proactively identifying and mitigating threats, and so the conversation here, too, needs to change and focus on cyber resilience. 

Achieving true cyber resilience means adopting a more holistic approach. It is not just about preventing incidents but about ensuring that, when disruptions happen, the organisation can quickly recover and maintain operational continuity.

A key metric for assessing resilience is Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR). Knowing how quickly systems can return to full functionality is crucial for understanding an organisation's cyber resilience level.

Cyber resilience requires embedding security into every layer of a digital enterprise. This holistic integration does not just protect against cyber threats. It enables faster regulatory compliance, increases operational flexibility, and builds the confidence to drive innovation.

Achieving cyber resilience
 
So, how can a business become truly cyber resilient? CISOs already face significant complexity and budget constraints. For them, an ideal solution must be simple, cost-effective, and integrated.
For this reason, a platform approach offers a streamlined path to resilience. For example, a fully integrated platform can provide next-generation security capabilities while leveraging the latest AI tools to sharpen a business's competitive edge and accelerate its digital transformation journey.

A platform approach removes complexity while significantly reducing operational costs and improving total ownership (TCO). Also, a fully integrated platform can automate security management and free up precious resources, helping overcome staffing problems when cybersecurity skills are in short supply. 

Life is not straightforward for senior security leaders, and it is not made any easier by today's fragmented security infrastructures, isolated point products, and lack of oversight. 

The IT security industry needs to work hard to communicate the features of a platform strategy and the significant business benefits it can deliver.