Attention Senior Leaders; data breaches are on the rise, how you can avoid being the next headline…with a minimal investment!!
The most recent report handed down this month from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner showed that data breaches are on the rise.
This won’t surprise you, if you consume any news, in any format, at all. And, you’d also be aware that the reputational damage and impact to your organisation’s brand, can be hard to recover from.
However, here in Australia, organisations are behind where we need to be with the management of information security risk. Why is that, and why isn’t more being done to address the risk?
Well, our experience shows it’s because understanding the risk necessarily comes before doing something about it.
Let’s be honest, many senior leaders, can remember a time when we didn’t have the internet, well, not in the broader business community anyway…
The technology sector grew faster than governments and educators could keep up with. It was some time before formal business qualifications included much about technology use and workplace training wasn’t always offered or delivered effectively.
The lack of understanding of information security risk continues, partly because there continues to be a lack of understanding of the way IT networks and technical devices connect and operate.
Consumer technology, more so than organisational technology, has driven all of us to increased use very quickly and most people have little understanding of the associated risks.
How your organisation can start to address the risks in a short time and at a low cost
Become informed – it really is that simple – educate your leadership team with a face-to-face small group session on information security.
This is the part that’s not hard. All you need to do is get your team to the session. We’ll engage, present, tell stories and answer lots of questions. We get fantastic feedback, people really do enjoy attending.
What happens after you understand the risks, and why your support is needed
There are organisational challenges to address information security risks effectively. Some are:
- There can be cultural barriers – your organisation has a low level of maturity for technology use, creating a barrier to engage in discussion
- The risks need to be dealt with organisation-wide – that is, across departments dealing with risk, governance and ICT
- Changing user behaviour is hard – it sure is, and virtually impossible unless people understand why they need to change behaviours, and are therefore motivated to do so.
- Ongoing support is required from senior leaders – running an educational program once, and expecting people to learn something new and change a behaviour isn’t practical and just doesn’t work. People learn and remember through repetitive messaging, so an ongoing focus is important. So is the necessary budget to invest in the resourcing.
- Demonstration of good information security habits needs to be from the top down – your organisation will need up to date practical policies and procedures and supporting education.
But, why not get started with the first step and become more informed…?
Contact us on 1300 264 946 to discuss the ways we can help your leadership team to understand information security risk. With that information you can then plan your next steps to address the risk.