As October comes to a close, so does Cybersecurity Awareness Month! For today’s post, we’re diving into the future of cybersecurity, a fitting topic to wrap up all the insights we’ve explored over the past month.
Throughout the month, we’ve unpacked key trends and challenges of the cybersecurity landscape. So, what’s the grand takeaway? One word: cyber resilience! This concept goes beyond traditional cybersecurity measures, emphasizing an organization’s ability to continue operating effectively in the face of cyber threats, disruptions, or attacks. In a world where cyberattacks are inevitable, being resilient is key to ensuring a secure, sustainable, and safeguarded digital future.
But what can you, as an organization, do to enhance cyber resilience?
Cyber resilience starts with organizational culture
As mentioned in our previous blog article “How to close the cybersecurity skill gap: a survival guide for SMEs” , human error is a major factor in 95% of cybersecurity breaches (IBM, 2020). This proves that cybersecurity can’t be confined to the IT department anymore. From HR to finance to marketing, everyone plays a part in keeping data safe.
Governance
If you think governance sounds like something straight out of a business school textbook, you’re not wrong, but stay with us! Governance is all about how your organization leads and operates. In more simple words, as Gallup defines, it is “how we do things around here.” It is the same for cybersecurity. It’s the boardroom’s job to set the tone from the top—encouraging every employee to take cybersecurity seriously, with clear policies and open collaboration.
It’s not just about building walls (or firewalls) around your organization, but about creating a resilient organizational culture that’s quick to adapt and recover. The recent World Economic Forum research says adopting a “resilience by design” approach emphasizes continuous monitoring, rapid response and the ability to learn from incidents to strengthen defenses. This research shows how organizations could implement effective methods using technologies to predict and pre-emptively respond to potential risks.
Training
Keep calm and train! It is a critical element in fostering a resilient cybersecurity culture within an organization. It is not just about equipping IT specialists with technical knowledge, but also about ensuring that every employee, regardless of their role, is properly trained and prepared to contribute to the organization’s cybersecurity posture.
For technical roles, ongoing, specialized training is essential to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats and technological advancements. Also, non-technical staff must receive continuous training to recognize common threats like phishing, social engineering, and other forms of cyberattacks. By making cybersecurity training a core part of the company’s daily operations, employees become active participants in safeguarding the organization.
A well-rounded training program should also include regular simulations and drills, such as phishing tests and incident response exercises, to prepare employees for real-world scenarios! Importantly, training shouldn’t be a one-time event. It must be ongoing, adapting to new risks and technologies. For example, quishing —a cyber scam with QR code— is a new type of cyberthreat that everyone needs to be aware of!
Build up a robust cybersecurity culture!
Are you ready to take proactive steps towards building up a more robust cybersecurity culture within your organization? Keep in mind that cyber resilience is not a destination, it’s an ongoing journey. With the right organization culture based on the right governance, and training in place, your organization can adapt, prevent, recover, and even thrive in the face of cyber threats.
At Swiss Cyber Institute, we’re here to support you on this journey. We offer comprehensive cybersecurity skills assessments for your technology teams to evaluate, analyze, and enhance their abilities for a resilience future. Also, our tailored cybersecurity team training ensures that all employees, regardless of their roles, gain the awareness and hands-on experiences essential to contribute to a cyber secure environment.
Stay vigilant, stay resilient, and remember – the future of cybersecurity depends on everyone’s role, not just IT!
