In banking and finance, the transformation strategy needs to have the customer experience in focus to build trust, which is crucial in today’s digital life with fewer physical customer meetings.
Banks must be agile in their business model to quickly create new applications that are required for an optimized user experience, says Ricardo Ferreira, Field CISO at Fortinet.
With DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act), European financial institutions get new guidelines aimed at reducing the risk of cyber-attacks. Fortinet helps its customers comply with these regulatory requirements. – We can protect everything that has access to the network and banks should have a security architecture that includes multiple private and public cloud platforms. What makes Fortinet unique is that we can take a holistic approach to security in the financial institutions’ digital transformation journey, says Lars Berggren, Country Manager Fortinet Sweden.
An improved user experience with Bank 4.0
In the Nordics, cash handling has decreased significantly in recent years, while digital payment solutions have increased rapidly. Swedish banks, for example, were early in launching internet banks, but in recent years the focus has shifted to make sure they comply with the regulatory requirements. With new Fintech companies attracting customers, Swedish banks need to put more effort into their digital development to be competitive. Cyberattacks and threats are becoming more and more sophisticated. Fortinet provides support in the digital transformation and has crucial expertise in risks and threats
– Cloud-based platforms, both private and public cloud, are crucial for banks when developing solutions for a better, high-quality user experience. The transformation that banks need to go through, with new digital platforms and a more agile business model, is what we refer to as Bank 4.0. Today, you need to be fast and flexible to protect yourself and there must be a proactive security platform that supports the business and provides a holistic view, says Lars Berggren.
Secure the brand reputation of your bank
Digitalization brings many opportunities for the banks, such as increased sales, finding new business models and applications as well as refined customer offerings. Fortinet can help improve user-friendliness and at the same time secure the bank’s brand reputation by reducing the risk of cyber-attacks, says Ricardo Ferreira.
Read more about the driving forces in the market that are affecting banks right now, and how an improved infrastructure for cyber security can strengthen your competitiveness, in this e-book.
About Fortinet
According to Gartner, Fortinet is a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions and enables companies to build secure digital infrastructure and be at the forefront of their digitalization journey. The Fortinet Security Fabric platform provides broad, integrated, and automated protection for the entire digital attack surface, by securing critical devices, data, applications, and connections from the data center to the cloud as well as to the home office.
*This article was contributed by Lars Berggren of Fortinet.
Die digitale Transformation hat die Kommunikation und den Arbeitsalltag in modernen Unternehmen grundlegend verändert. Mit zunehmender Mobilität der Mitarbeiter werden eigenen Geräte sowohl für die persönliche Kommunikation als auch für den Beruf genutzt, so dass damit auf Geschäftsanwendungen und -daten über öffentliche Netze zugegriffen wird. Gleichzeitig wurden sensible Geschäftsdaten immer weiter verteilt und befinden sich außerhalb des Unternehmenspreimeters in SaaS-Anwendungen wie Microsoft 365 und privaten Anwendungen in AWS, Azure oder Google Cloud-Plattformen.
Der Prozess der digitalen Transformation steigert die Agilität und den Informationsfluss von Unternehmen, vergrößert jedoch ebenfalls die Angriffsfläche dramatisch und setzt Unternehmen neuen Bedrohungen aus. Dies hat dazu geführt, dass die traditionelle Firewall-basierte Netzwerksicherheit zugunsten einer Cloud-basierten Zero-Trust-Architektur überdacht wird. Allerdings wird der Begriff Zero Trust in den letzten Jahren inflationär behandelt mit der Folge der Verwirrung von Unternehmen und zögerlicher Umsetzung.
Was bedeuted ist Zero Trust?
Obwohl das Konzept von Zero Trust in der Cybersicherheitsbranche seit mehr als einem Jahrzehnt existiert, versteckt sich hinter dem Begriff nicht einfach eine einzelne Technologie, wie im Falle von Identitäts-Management, Fernzugriff oder Netzwerksegmentierung. Zero Trust ist ein ganzheitlicher Ansatz zur Absicherung moderner Organisationen. Er basiert auf dem Prinzip des Least Privileged Access und damit dem Grundsatz, dass kein Benutzer und keine Anwendung von vorneherein als vertrauenswürdig eingestuft werden sollten. Ohne den Vertrauensvorschuss muss jeglicher Zugriff auf Basis der Anwenderauthentifizierung und des Kontexts eingerichtet werden. Unternehmensrichtlinien dienen bei diesem Konzept auf jedem Schritt als Gatekeeper.
Im Kern wird eine Zero-Trust-Sicherheitsplattform von drei Eckpfeilern gebildet:
Konnektivität basiert auf Identität und Richtlinien werden Kontext-basiert erstellt
Anwendungen werden für Angreifern unsichtbar gemacht
Verwendung einer proxy-basierten Architektur zur Verbindung mit Anwendungen und zur Überprüfung des Datenverkehrs
Identitäts-und Richtlinien-basierte Konnektivität
Herkömmliche VPNs und Firewalls bringen die Benutzer für den Anwendungszugriff in das Netz. Sobald der Benutzer im Netzwerk ist, erhöht sich durch gewährte Vertrauen das Risiko von lateralen Bewegungen durch eingeschleppte Malware. Im Gegensatz dazu verwendet Zero Trust eine Kontext- und Identitäts-basierte Authentifizierung und Richtlinienüberprüfung, um verifizierte Benutzer sicher mit ganz bestimmten, genehmigten Anwendungen zu verbinden, ohne Benutzer direkt auf das Unternehmensnetzwerk zugreifen zu lassen. Dies verhindert laterale Bewegungen und reduziert so das Geschäftsrisiko. Da die Netzwerkressourcen niemals dem Internet ausgesetzt werden, können sich Unternehmen auf diese Weise vor Ransomware, DDoS und gezielten Angriffen schützen.
Anwendungen werden für Außenstehende unsichtbar
Die Migration von Anwendungen in die Cloud vergrößert die Angriffsfläche eines Unternehmens erheblich. Herkömmliche Firewalls veröffentlichen Anwendungen im Internet, so dass sie von Benutzern aber eben auch Hackern gefunden werden können. Ein Zero Trust-Ansatz vermeidet es, das Unternehmensnetzwerk dem Internet auszusetzen, indem Quellidentitäten verborgen und IP-Adressen verschleiert werden. Die Angriffsfläche eines Unternehmens lässt sich reduzieren, indem Anwendungen für Angreifer unsichtbar und nur für autorisierte Benutzer zugänglich sind. Damit können Unternehmen ihren Zugriff auf Anwendungen im Internet, in SaaS sowie in öffentlichen oder privaten Clouds sicher gestalten.
Proxy-basierte Architektur zur Verbindung mit Anwendungen und zur Überprüfung des Datenverkehrs
Next-Generation Firewalls haben Schwierigkeiten, verschlüsselte Datenverkehr flächendeckend und ohne Leistungseinbußen zu prüfen. Dies zwingt Unternehmen oft dazu, sich zwischen schneller Verfügbarkeit und Sicherheit zu entscheiden, wobei oft die Verfügbarkeit gewinnt. Die Prüfung des verschlüsselten Datenverkehrs wird demzufolge umgangen, was zu einem größeren Risiko von Cybersecurity-Bedrohungen und Datenverlusten führen kann. Darüber hinaus verwenden Firewalls einen Passthrough-Ansatz, der es unbekannten Inhalten ermöglicht, ihr Ziel zu erreichen, bevor eine Analyse auf Malware abgeschlossen ist. Erst wenn eine Bedrohung erkannt wird, wird eine Warnung verschickt. Das kann unter Umständen zu spät sein, um die Ausführung der Malware zu verhindern.
Ein wirksamer Schutz vor Bedrohungen und Datenverlusten erfordert stattdessen eine Proxy-Architektur, die SSL-Sitzungen prüft, den Inhalt von Transaktionen analysiert und in Echtzeit Richtlinien- und Sicherheitsentscheidungen trifft, bevor der Datenverkehr an sein Ziel weitergeleitet wird. All dies muss außerdem in großem Umfang und ohne Beeinträchtigung der Leistung erfolgen, unabhängig davon, von wo aus die Benutzer eine Verbindung herstellen.
Zero Trust sorgt für moderne Sicherheit
Die erfolgreiche Einführung von Zero Trust beginnt mit der richtigen Plattform, die auf den oben genannten Säulen basiert. Zur Umsetzung müssen sich IT-Entscheidungsträger von traditionellen Denkweisen verabschieden. Moderne Sicherheit geht mit einer ganzheitlichen Transformation einher, die in das Gesamtkonzept der Cloud passt und das Ökosystem der Konnektivität mit Security verbindet. Die Zscaler Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange schafft die notwendige Grundlage dafür.
The cloud is an environment full of potential. It provides easy access to technologies that simply weren’t available a decade ago. You can now launch the equivalent of an entire data center with a single command.
Scaling to meet the demands of millions of customers can be entirely automated. Advanced machine learning analysis is as simple as one API call. This has allowed teams to speed up innovation and focus almost exclusively on delivering business value.
But it’s not all unicorns and rainbows.
The assumption was that alongside this increased potential, the security challenges we see on-premises would grow as well. Teams should be struggling with zero days, vulnerability chains, and shadow IT.
It turns out they aren’t. At least those issues are nowhere near the top of their list of concerns. The top security challenge for builders in the cloud is very straightforward.
Their biggest challenge is making mistakes in the form of service misconfigurations.
Shared Responsibility
First, let’s look at the evidence around the initial assumption that people make about cloud security. They assume the cloud service providers themselves are a big risk. The data doesn’t support this at all.
Each of the big four cloud service providers; Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, have had two security breaches in their services over the past five years…combined. Now, before we get into each of these, it’s important to note that each of the big four has had to deal with tons of security vulnerabilities over this timeframe.
A large number of cloud services are simplified managed service offerings of popular commercial or open-source projects. These projects have had various security issues that the providers have had to deal with.
The advantage for us as users, and builders, is how operations work in the cloud. All operational work done in any cloud follows the Shared Responsibility Model. It’s very straightforward.
There are six primary areas where daily operational work is required. Depending on the type of service you are using in the cloud, your responsibilities shift. If you’re using instances or virtual machines, you are responsible for the operating system, the applications running on that OS, and your data. As you move to an entirely managed service, you are only responsible for the data you process and store with the service.
For all types of cloud services, you are responsible for service configuration. despite having a clear line of responsibilities, the providers offer many features to help you meet your responsibilities and adjust the services to suit your needs.
Cloud Service Provider Issues
Now, let us take a look at providers’ security issues over the past five years… the first one is from March 2020. In this case, Google Cloud paid out a $100,000 reward through their bug bounty program to a security researcher who found a privilege escalation issue in Google Cloud Shell.
This is a service that provides a browser-based interface to the command line of a virtual machine running in your account. Under the covers, this shell is simply a container running an application to provide the required access. The researcher noticed that they were able to use a socket connection in the container to compromise the host machine and escalate their access.
The root cause? A misconfiguration in the access to that socket.
The second example is from January 2020 and it involved a service offered in Microsoft Azure. Here an issue was reported in the Microsoft App Service offering. This vulnerability allowed an attacker to escape the expected boundaries of the service and access a limited-scope deployment server with elevated privileges.
The reason? A misconfiguration in the open-source tool used to provide this web app hosting service.
In both cases, the vulnerabilities were responsibly disclosed and quickly fixed. Neither issues lead to any reported customer impacts. Both of these cases were in higher-level cloud services. These are services that the provider’s teams built using other services on the platform. As a result, and in line with the shared responsibility model, they were at risk of a service misconfiguration.
Even hyper-scale providers face this challenge!
3rd Party Validation
There’s more evidence to support the fact that misconfigurations are the biggest issue in cloud security. Security researchers in the community who study cloud issues have all published findings that align with this premise. Whether from other security vendors or industry organizations, the findings agree: that 65-70% of all security issues in the cloud start with a misconfiguration.
Making it worse, 45% of organizations believe that privacy and security challenges are a barrier to cloud adoption.
Why is that worse?
When understood, the shared responsibility model makes it easier to maintain a strong security posture. Organizations should be pushing to move faster to the cloud to improve their security!
Direct evidence
However, surveys and targeted research projects only go so far. What does the publicly available evidence say? Here’s a list of some of the most visible cloud security breaches in recent years;
If you filter out all the reports of cloud hacks and breaches to remove incidents that were not cloud-specific—so those where the issue wasn’t related to the cloud, the service just happened to be there—over two billion sensitive records have been exposed through a breach in cloud security.
Let’s take this further and remove every single breach that wasn’t due to a single misconfiguration.
Yes, single. One wrong setting. One incorrect permission. One simple mistake…caused all of these breaches.
That leaves the Capital One breach. This more complicated event was caused by …two misconfigurations and a bug. An in-depth analysis of this breach shows that the bug was inconsequential to the overall impact which was 100 million customer records being exposed.
What’s more, is that Capital One is a very mature cloud user. They are a reference customer for AWS, they’ve been a huge advocate of the cloud within the community and were the incubator for the very popular open-source security, governance, and management tool, Cloud Custodian.
This is a team that knows what they are doing. And yet, they still made a mistake.
Pace of Change
That’s really what misconfigurations are. They are mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are oversights, and other times an incorrect choices made due to a lack of awareness.
It all comes back to the power made accessible by the cloud. Reducing these barriers has had a commensurate increase in the pace of innovation. Teams are moving faster. As these teams mature, they can maintain a high rate of innovation with a low failure rate.
In fact, 43% of teams who have adopted a DevOps philosophy can deploy at least once a week while maintaining a failure rate of under 15%.
Critically, when they do encounter a failure, they can resolve it within the day…more impressively 46% of those teams resolve those issues within the hour. But, as we know, cybercriminals don’t need a day. Any opening can be enough to gain a foothold creating an incident.
What about teams that aren’t at this pace? Well, the other 57% of teams, the majority of which are large enterprises, often feel that their lack of pace provides protection. Moving cautiously in the cloud allows them to take a more measured approach and reduce their error rates.
While this may be true—and there’s no evidence to support or disprove this assumption—change is still happening around them. The cloud service providers themselves are moving at a rapid pace.
In 2020, the big four hyper-scale providers released over 5,000 new features for their services. For single cloud users, that means almost 2 new features a day…at a minimum. For the growing set of multi-cloud users, the pace of change only increases. So even if your team is moving slowly, the ground underneath them is shifting rapidly.
Goal of cybersecurity
Now the goal of cybersecurity is actually quite simple. The goal is to ensure that whatever is built works as intended and only as intended. In a traditional on-premises environment, this standard approach is a strong perimeter and deep visibility across the enterprise.
That doesn’t work in the cloud. The pace of change is too rapid, both internally and with the provider. Smaller teams are building more and more. Quite often, by design, these teams act outside of the central CIO infrastructure.
This requires that security is treated as another aspect of building well. It cannot be treated as a stand-alone activity. This sounds like a monumental task, but it’s not. It starts with two key questions;
What else can this do?
Are you sure?
This container running the code creates the financial reports. What else can it do? Can it access other types of data? Are you even sure it’s the right container?
This is where security controls provide the most value.
Top pain points to address
Most of the time when we talk about security controls, we talk about what they stop. Using an intrusion prevention system can stop worms and other types of network attacks. Anti-malware controls can stop ransomware, crypto miners, and other malicious behaviors.
For every security control, we have a list of things it stops. This is excellent and works well with subject matter experts…a.k.a the security team.
Builders have a different perspective. Builders want to build. When framed in the proper context, it’s easy to show how security controls can help them build better.
Posture management helps ensure that settings stay set regardless of how many times a team deploys during the week. Network controls assure teams that only valid traffic ever reaches their code. Container admission control makes sure that the right container is deployed at the right time.
Security controls do so much more than just stop things from happening. They provide answers to critical questions that builders are starting to ask.
“What else can this do?”. Very little thanks to these security controls.
“Are you sure?” Yes. I have these controls in place to make sure.
When built well and deployed intelligently, security controls help teams deliver more dependable, easier-to-observe, and more reliable solutions.
As entrepreneurs, influencers, and c-level executives (CXO) flock to Clubhouse in a bid to harness the app, the security and privacy shortcomings are becoming evident, forcing businesses to re-evaluate their approach to the social media platform.
The app’s fast rise to fame also came with a price as security issues within the platform came to light, posing the question of whether users’ data are fully protected.
In this article, we take a quick look at the recent data breach that Clubhouse experienced and what concerns it raises.
Data Spillage and Security Leaks
Stanford University Internet Observatory first raised concerns about a Shanghai-based start-up that supplies Clubhouse’s back-end infrastructure and that they would have access to “users raw audio, potentially providing access to the Chinese government.”
A spokesperson for the company has stated that the user was permanently banned and that new safeguards were being installed, which pushes the app a step towards securing and protecting user data even more.
Responses from cybersecurity experts on whether Clubhouse is safe for users varied widely with some claiming it should be a serious concern for anyone who uses the app for sensitive conversations.
On the other side of the coin, experts highlighted that the security issues raised by the reports were hypothetical and that the risks were mainly concerned with users in China, where the app is already banned.
Whether or not Clubhouse security measures are compliant with data and privacy acts, it’s important for businesses and CXOs to be aware of the potential security risks involved with the platform.
While the recent security issues do not pose any serious threats or risks, for now, they still serve as a reminder that users need to be vigilant when using the app and that Clubhouse needs to improve its security measures sooner than later.
With more and more people embracing digital and smart shopping experiences, the retail market is scrambling to adopt new retail technology to remain viable and sustain growth in a rapidly changing landscape.
In this article, we’ll highlight some of the major challenges businesses are facing and the solutions they are looking for. For a more in-depth look at the trends of the retail industry, head over to our Retail Investment 2021 report.
Challenge 1: Evolving and Enhancing CX
Customer experience is expected to shift even more in 2021 and as consumers become more conscious of their spending, retailers will need to optimize every step of the customer journey to maintain loyalty, and spark growth.
Improving customer journey optimization will involve significant investments in retail technology trends, a key touchpoint of which will be the tech that improves process efficiency such as AI, automation, and customer touchpoints (as well as mapping them out).
A quick view at the core focuses among retail leaders shows that many organizations are prioritizing smart solutions and digital competency to handle customer needs and ensure quality CX.
What Are They Looking For
Improving the experience for customers by delivering fast and accurate responses through CX software which integrates marketing automation, customer service, CRM, CPQ, sales force automation (SFA) solutions, and customer data platform (CDP)
Challenge 2: Deciphering The Data
Achieving effective customer journey optimization will require targeted investments in retail technology and a high priority tech among retail leaders is data and analytics.
With the influx of data available due to rapid digital transformation, organizations are scrambling to adopt big data and real-time data analytics to better refine their business actions according to customers’ needs and profiles.
As the global big data market is forecasted to be worth $103 billion by 2027, data analytics is no longer just a buzzword, but an important retail technology investment needed for day-to-day efficiency in organizations and individuals.
Given the current talent gap, however, businesses will still look to third-party solutions in terms of building an infrastructure that allows them to utilize data analytics effectively.
What Are They Looking For
Platforms that implement easy-to-use analytics, data mining, and automated forecasting. Department-specific data such as marketing, sales, and customer analytics will also be a key factor for many businesses.
Challenge 3: Digitalizing Stores and Scaling e-Commerce
A shift towards improved digital storefront experiences is in line with customer market behavior as globally, 49% of the population is shopping online more now compared to pre-COVID times.
Nevertheless, customers still prefer shopping on-location, with a recent survey done by Shekel showing that 87% of customers prefer to shop in stores, but with touchless or seamless self-checkouts.
As such, improving the infrastructure for businesses’ e-commerce platforms and brick-and-mortar stores has become a race. Those who are able to achieve seamless online shopping experiences and frictionless smart payments will get the lion’s share of the market.
What Are They Looking For
The ability to transition from an analog business model to a digital, omnichannel model through cloud solutions or optimizing current digital channels such as mobile apps, IoT, and smart shopping.
Challenge 4: Improving Digital Security
Machine learning and cloud computing continue to be high priorities in tech adoption for retail leaders. Cybersecurity, however, has seen a significant rise due to demands for safer and more secure digital/smart shopping.
The confusion caused by the coronavirus and the massive shift towards digital/remote working has led to cyberattacks becoming frequent with large data breaches increased by 273% in the first quarter of 2020.
Retailers will face an uphill battle in the “new normal” of post-COVID to assimilate all the necessary digital security strategies, be it upgrading vulnerable software and hardware components or strengthening customer data protection, to ensure customer confidence and loyalty.
However, with the global market for cyber security software expected to grow to $230 billion in 2021, they can expect exponential growth in the practices and solutions for digital security.
What Are They Looking For
A simplified platform that allows them to reduce security risk through robust privileged access management (PAM) and optimal solutions for customer data storage and protection that comply with GDPR.
Overcoming The Challenges
At the start of 2021, it’s clear that retail giants are making big investments when it comes to innovative retail technologies. Certain technologies, such as digital transformations, continue to be a major priority for retailers.
The big changes, however, come from renewed interest in improving customer journeys through data analytics and scaling up digital channels via e-commerce or smart shopping experiences.
For any organization, it’s essential to identify which areas of retail technology they are trailing behind, then network with the right solution provider, invest in skilled talents and have the necessary tools to maintain growth in a soon-to-be revitalized industry.
As the world crosses into 2021, the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine has brought surges in global stocks and market optimism.
However, even with great hopes of economic recovery by the end of 2021, organizations still need to ensure that their business growth and plans continue positively. Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are playing a big part in achieving these goals by maximizing information technology (IT) investments and advancements.
What IT Investments To Focus On?
According to our Executive Trend Survey, 67% of CIOs placed data science as a top priority for 2021 with core focuses on analytics strategy, data management, and big data analytics.
Meanwhile, cyber security and cloud were named as other top CIO priorities by 59% and 53% of surveyed leaders respectively.
But what does this mean for CIOs across the industries?
Based on feedback from CIOs and key IT executives, the majority (47%) of them are facing 2021 with slight changes in their goals and a lower budget for their function.
With limited budgets, CIOs need to pick and choose which goal takes priority over the others and select a solution that will truly give them the return on investment they seek.
Thus, even if CIO trends point towards analytics if their current end objectives don’t correspond with the need for data solutions, they should focus on more pressing investments.
Another key factor influencing their investment priorities lies in the current maturity levels of their technology and operations. For instance, some are still new in forming data strategies while others are more advanced in their data-driven processes, thus their focus areas in the use of data science differ greatly.
Investing In Data Science
Today, it’s uncommon to find any company that is not taking advantage of their data. From enhancing customer experience to improving predictive maintenance, business leaders are aware that data is critical to their organizational growth.
But which area of data analytics should your organization focus on? Between the different analytics applications and components, what should be the foremost priority?
In recent interviews with CIOs and other IT decision-makers, over 450 of them named analytics as their core focus. Even so, under the analytics umbrella, their interests ranged from big data analytics and predictive analytics to data warehousing and analytics strategy.
55% of them selected data management as their foremost investment in analytics, naming master data management (MDM) and product information management (PIM) implementation as some of their projects.
The MDM solution is largely adopted by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector to manage massive amounts of transactional data on their customers. PIM, on the other hand, is seeing higher demand by the e-commerce industry and an anticipated fast growth in the media and entertainment sector.
In regards to data analytics strategy, some of the CIOs are investigating how they can make the business work more efficiently through analytics strategy while others are taking the next steps to improve data quality.
On the other hand, a number of the interviewed decision-makers are still setting up and realizing their data strategy, indicating that they’re still in the planning stages and concentrating on becoming a data-driven organization.
Investing in Cyber Security
Meanwhile, our most recent interviews with CIOs on cybersecurity investments discovered that cloud security is foremost on their priority list followed closely by cyber security strategy.
From our findings, a number of the interviewed decision-makers expressed interest in implementing security information and event management (SIEM) solutions.
Another hot spot in 2021 cyber security spending, according to Forbes, is identity and access management (IAM), which is a prime focus for 30% of business leaders investing in cyber security. Some of their projects regarding access and identity management include:
With uncertainties still forthcoming, some CIOs are worried about guaranteeing a high level of cyber security with a limited budget while facing challenges in approaching the topic of online security to a diversified and remote workforce.
Investing in Cloud
Based on CIO investment feedback from the interviews, most of them are still in the planning stage of their cloud strategy with cloud integration and migration as their core priorities.
Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud are three of the most popular cloud platforms in the market, and interviewed decision-makers are contemplating between the cloud computing services while some are even working with all three of the platforms.
Alternatively, a group of IT leaders and other key C-suites are working towards a hybrid cloud environment, which is commonly used in industries such as:
What is Your Focus Area?
As seen in our survey findings and interviews, each of the IT leaders is prioritizing a specific solution that best serves their target goals with consideration to their budget, their available expertise and IT talents, and current processes.
For some, the immediate focus is on surviving the consequences of the pandemic, “which has become the number one objective for most emerging technology investments”, according to KPMG’s research. For others, it’s an opportune time to shift to a more digital business model and accelerate their digital transformation.
Nevertheless, while benchmarking and taking note of emerging IT trends help your organization to measure business performance against other companies, the global situation and market uncertainty are still expected to significantly affect information technology investments.
The important thing is to have a solid focus on your strategic IT priorities, adopting agility and adaptability for business continuity, and making smart investments to prevail in the long term.
Imagine having a virtual replica of your IT network, where you are able to pinpoint security vulnerabilities, develop attack simulations, and deter expensive breaches, all before your system is even implemented.
For some business leaders, this is no longer a fantasy, but a reality with digital twins.
Embracing Digital Twins
While the digital twin concept was initially applied in manufacturing, many industries have seen beneficial uses of having a digital replica of their assets, operations, and more recently, their cyber security systems.
It’s a known fact that the number of cyberattacks rose at an alarming rate during the outbreak, with many even naming it as a ‘cyber pandemic’.
As more organizations move their digital assets to the cloud combined with the increased use of Internet of Things (IoT), the immense data proves attractive to cyber attackers looking to profit from unsecured endpoints, networks, and databases.
With cyber criminals becoming increasingly advanced, simply defending the systems and reacting to real-time attacks are no longer sufficient, and businesses have to take a more proactive and predictive approach.
Simulating, Monitoring, and Protecting Physical Assets
A digital twin refers to a virtual replica or representation of a physical device, system, or network. It is a concept borrowed from the Internet of Things (IoT) domain, where physical objects are connected and controlled through digital representations.
In the realm of cyber security, digital twins are used to simulate and monitor the behavior of real-world assets or systems in a controlled and secure environment. By creating a virtual replica of a physical entity, organizations can gain valuable insights into its vulnerabilities, potential attack vectors, and overall security posture.
Digital twins enable cyber security professionals to conduct various activities, including:
Risk Assessment: Digital twins allow for the identification and analysis of potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with a physical asset or system. By simulating attacks and interactions within the digital twin, cyber security experts can evaluate the effectiveness of security controls and make informed decisions to mitigate risks.
Threat Detection: By monitoring the digital twin’s behavior, anomalies and suspicious activities can be detected, which may indicate potential cyber threats or attacks on the corresponding physical entity. This allows for early detection and response to security incidents.
Security Testing and Validation: Digital twins provide a controlled environment for testing security measures and evaluating the effectiveness of security solutions. They allow for the simulation of various attack scenarios to assess the resilience and response capabilities of the corresponding physical assets.
Predictive Analysis: By analyzing data gathered from the digital twin, cyber security professionals can make predictions about potential security breaches or vulnerabilities in the physical system. This helps in proactively addressing security weaknesses and implementing preventive measures.
It’s important to note that while digital twins can assist in enhancing cyber security, they should also be protected themselves. The security of the digital twin environment, including access controls, encryption, and monitoring, is crucial to ensure its integrity and prevent unauthorized access or manipulation that could impact the corresponding physical asset or system.
Use Cases of Digital Twins for Cyber Security
While there are few industries that have implemented digital twins to safeguard their digital assets, some companies have taken the leap to bring their cyber security to the next level with faster speed and precision to prevent and combat potential threats.
IN AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE
The concept of digital twin has actually been around since the 1960s, when it was developed by NASA for the Apollo space programs, and then applied to avert disaster during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
While NASA has re-embraced the twinning approach for virtual equipment building and testing, the U.S. Air Force is using the technology to create “a digital replica of a GPS IIR satellite to detect any cyber security issues” as part of a congressional mandate to test its system.
“GPS systems are used for geo-location and timing for virtually every aspect of U.S. military operations [and the] potential for signals to be jammed, spoofed or interfered raises serious security concerns.”
A digital model of the satellite was built while it was in orbit, and penetration testing and vulnerability scans were heldacross the entire GPS system to identify weaknesses and ascertain that all the components operate as intended if any issue arises.
AUTOMOTIVE
The automotive industry is smarter than ever before with rising trends in shared mobility, connected and electric vehicles, and autonomous driving. However, the much-awaited digitization and connectivity of modern car systems point to a plethora of information that is tempting targets for cybercriminals.
Cybellum, a computer and network security company, foresaw the need to protect automotive software from cyberthreats, and presented a novel approach to combat online risks through digital twinning.
Called Cybersecurity Digital Twin, Cybellum constructs a virtualized identical version of the in-vehicle components and simulates the electronic control units (ECU) firmware. The twin is then used as the basis for extensive cyber risk analyses and scans to continuously monitor both on-the-road and in-development vehicles for vulnerabilities and threat exposures.
With current car systems implementing over-the-air (OTA) software updates and the new United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) cyber security regulations, the digital twin technology additionally helps to perform risk assessments and ensure secure updates.
“For an efficient software update management system, a digital twin of the vehicle is almost a must.”
Ian Elsby, the Head of Chemical Industry GB&I at Siemens, wrote about the use of digital twins to deter cyber breaches in the chemical industry.
As production plants and manufacturing factories integrate Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) into their systems, it brings forth the challenges of cyber attacks and hacking through digital networks. This is where the twinning technology can be utilized to ensure cyber security.
“Just as processes are simulated and data gathered to detect non-performance of assets, a simulated cyber attack can also be detected by the digital twin,” explained Elsby.
He proposed using the virtual database to capture information and testing activities, which will then allow the digital twin to form cyber security protection algorithms to defend the production plant’s data against malicious viruses.
Elsby further emphasized that digital twins are able to make the process of conducting security gap analysis and pinpointing the plant’s security requirements easier and more achievable.
The Security Value of Digital Twins
Organizations that have faced cyberattacks know that such breaches are costly, from repairing network vulnerabilities and regaining data control to recovering reputational damages and financial impacts. In fact, the average cost of a breach to a publicly traded company is estimated to be $116 million.
The digital twin technology aids in preventing expensive attacks through its capability to make faster and more efficient decisions as more penetration data and tests are fed to the twin simulation of a system.
“[By] executing enough tests and brainstorming all possible scenarios of how a hacker might try to breach into a valuable online resource, the digital twin interface will be capable of reacting with extreme speed and precision by making calculated decisions by itself.”
Developing a virtual replica also means the company safeguards its systems and assets from third-party and outsourced vendors, which are often hired to test breaches and build defenses, but which are also susceptible to attacks.
Instead, in-house developers can create different viruses and attack scenarios in the simulation’s interface, thereby improving anti-virus software, pre-programming reactive and counter strikes against cyber attacks, and updating their safeguards in real time.
What the Future Holds for Digital Twins
In a recent interview with Michael Grieves, who popularized the digital twin concept in 2002, he believes that the world is still in the “conceptual stage of digital twins.”
“We have this information that we can bring together to create this virtual version of real-world environments based on models and behavioral aspects and modeling and simulation,” Grieves shared. “The next step is to have all this information be pulled together automatically and intelligently.”
With data analytics, artificial intelligence, and digital capabilities increasing as the years pass, digital twins will no doubt play a key part in creating the ideal enterprise security. As seen in available use cases, some organizations are already a few steps ahead of their counterparts in developing tighter and stronger cyber protection.
As online attacks become more refined and sophisticated, so too must the approach that the business world takes to improve the digital safety of their assets, processes, and people.
Das “neue Normal” hat die Digitalisierung unserer Arbeitswelt noch einmal rapide beschleunigt und Remote Work bzw. Homeoffice sind fester Bestandteil unseres Lebens geworden. In Sachen Sicherheit zeigt sich aber auch, wo die Achillesfersen der neuen Konstrukte liegen: Nicht genügend Laptops im Haushalt, unsichere Zugänge oder geteilte Passwörter. Dazu arbeiten die neuen Heimarbeiter oft mit sogenannter “Schatten IT“, indem sie eigene Anwendungen und Apps nutzen (sei es aus Gewohnheit oder weil sie die unternehmenseigenen Angebote zu kompliziert finden). Das alles bietet neue Angriffsflächen für Hacker.
IT-Sicherheit: vor allem auch Bewusstseinsbildung
Deshalb muss zuerst bei allen Beteiligten ein echtes Bewusstsein geschaffen werden, sich auch zu Hause „cybersmart“ zu verhalten. Hier sollten Unternehmen ernsthaft Sorge dafür tragen, dass sie ihre Mitarbeiter mit dieser Botschaft auch erreichen – etwa mit einer Informationsseite oder einem ständigen Kommunikationskanal für solche Belange; am besten aber beides.
Die Fakten sprechen eine deutliche Sprache: Laut Studien lassen sich 80% aller Datenlecks auf schwache, wiederverwendete oder gestohlene Passwörter zurückführen. Es gibt also gute Gründe, hier rechtzeitig zu handeln.
Die neuen Gegebenheiten als Chance für die IT-Sicherheit begreifen
Die neuen Anforderungen und Gegebenheiten sind eine einmalige Chance für Unternehmen, ihre Verteidigung aus der Implementierungs- und Sicherheitsperspektive zu schärfen: Vor allem mit Security-as-a-Service und starken Passwörtern, die Mitarbeiter und Business gut absichern. Das sind die Basics gegen Viren und andere Malware. Und sie helfen der Homeoffice Workforce und den Unternehmen tatsächlich cybersicher zu sein.
Der Mensch als schwächstes Glied in der Sicherheitskette
Oft ist schlichtweg der Mensch selbst das schwächste Glied in der Sicherheitskette: Mitarbeiter, die keine Passwörter ändern oder dieselben Passwörter über viele Nutzerkonten hinweg benutzen. Das gilt besonders, wenn diesbezüglich keine Aufklärung betrieben oder kein Bewusstsein geschaffen wird. Eine solide IT-Sicherheitsbereitschaft und -kultur zu schaffen – das braucht in der Tat Zeit und viel Schulung. Dennoch müssen wir derzeit alle schnell reagieren.
Beim Zugangsmanagement sollte jeder begreifen, dass schlechte Passwort-Hygiene (Default-Passwörter nicht ändern, Passwort Wiederbenutzung oder schwache Passwörter) die Chance erhöht, Opfer eines Hackers zu werden.
Cybersecurity-Tipps für Homeoffice-Arbeiter
Heimarbeit bedeutet für die meisten Menschen, dass Dokumente und Gespräche offener für andere zugänglich sind, sei es auch nur die Familie. Deshalb ist es noch wichtiger als zuvor, dass alle Programme lange, zufallsgenerierte Passwörter besitzen. Mit einem Passwort-Manager schlägt man hier zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe, indem man einzigartige Passwörter für jeden Login generiert und speichert. Username und Passwörter werden dann in einem “Safe” gespeichert, wo sie verschlüsselt und organisiert werden. Die Produkte sind höchst kosteneffektiv, um die Cybersecurity von Heimarbeitern zu verbessern. (Übrigens auch sehr für die private Nutzung empfohlen!)
Ein Passwort-Manager kann schnell, nahtlos und einfach in den Workflow integriert werden. Sie verwenden auch oft Multifaktor-Authentifizierung, die zusätzliche Sicherheit bringt, gerade wenn Mitarbeiter sich von unterschiedlichen Standorten aus einloggen
Mehr Tipps im eBook
Die Cybersecurity Experten von LastPass haben dazu ein interessantes eBook erstellt, dass die Eckpfeiler von “Secure Remote Work” skizziert. Sie können es hier downloaden.
With the modern CIO role entailing more strategic decision-making, you need to identify key technologies that not only help advance the organization’s digital transformation, but that also increase its business value and competitive edge.
So how effective is your IT strategy compared to other organizations in your industry? Are there areas where your peers are ahead of you? Let’s dive into the IT benchmark data for the coming year.
Data Science Takes The Lead
In 2019, Management Events’ Executive Trend Survey found that 88% of CIOs across Europe were focusing on cyber security adoption for the coming years, followed by cloud and big data.
Although the findings point towards a higher importance of data science, the surveyed CIOs seem to be almost equally torn between data, cyber security and cloud investments. The close gaps indicate that these three technologies are vital parts of CIOs’ business continuity and recovery strategies.
The Rise Of Data
Based on our survey and interviews with IT decision makers, their core data focuses are on analytics strategy, data management and big data analytics, with the majority looking for data science and analytics to be scaling within their organization in 3 years.
Almost 82% of the surveyed leaders said they are updating data analytics models to accommodate changing market behavior. Furthermore, 73% agreed that they’re heavily investing in data-driven business models for post-COVID-19 survival.
Compared to the 2020 annual budget of between €100,000 and €250,000, the budget allocated by the CIOs for 2021 data analytics spending in their organization is higher, with the majority looking to spend in the €500,000 range.
As for data tech adoption, the majority of CIOs are currently building capabilities by hiring new talents with the required skills. However, in the future, they are looking to change their adoption strategy by investing in other companies to acquire the skills.
Diving deeper into the benchmark data, most of the IT leaders focusing on data analytics are from the retail and consumer industry, followed by the banking and financial services industry. Incidentally, aside from data analytics, the retail CIOs are also looking into e-commerce implementations.
With cybercrimes on the rise, businesses around the world are working hard to prevent data breaches and system disruptions. At the same time, companies are in the midst of strengthening their security framework, from securing endpoints to stronger online protection.
So what are the cyber security benchmark and CIO cyber security focus areas for 2021?
In terms of security investments, data security and privacy is one of the core focal points among European CIOs along with a more robust cyber security strategy and emphasis on cloud security.
As COVID-19 saw increasing security breaches, it’s not a surprise that employee awareness training on cyber security is a top priority for 95% of IT leaders. Meanwhile, 89% of the IT C-executives are expecting a rise in predictive and behavioral detection to prevent cyber attacks.
Similar to data science, cyber security’s annual budget was also ranging between €100,000 and €250,000 for 2020, but has increased to €500,000 for 2021, according to the IT leaders in our survey.
Currently, 58% of the decision makers are partnering with vendors and consultancies for their cyber security solutions, but in the future, most of them are looking at partnering with organizations in other industries to create security ecosystems.
Incidentally, IT leaders from the manufacturing industry make up the majority of surveyed CIOs looking to invest in cyber security.
Cloud Increase On The Horizon
On cloud benchmark data, our survey found that cloud is the third topmost tech priority for 2021 with the majority interested in cloud migration coming from the banking and financial services industry.
88% of the cloud-focused respondents are currently looking to migrate their workload to the cloud for increased business efficiency, and the survey also discovered that cloud infrastructure and cloud platforms are primary aspects of the CIO cloud strategy.
Unlike the other aforementioned technologies, cloud migration seems to have different budget ranges. The CIO respondents are divided between spending less than €500,000 and between €500,000 and €1 million in the coming year, when in 2020, the annual budget for cloud was mostly less than €50,000 and between €100,000 and €250,000.
Currently, their cloud adoption approach is partnering with external vendors and training their employees, but 68% of the IT leaders are hoping to acquire the necessary cloud capabilities by investing in other companies in the near future.
How Should You Respond?
Before undertaking a benchmarking opportunity, there is much to consider:
Are you looking at industry benchmark data or more towards IT budget benchmarks?
What performance or process gaps are you seeking to enhance?
Do you have a clear objective for the tech implementation?
While the trends are pointing mainly towards data analytics, investing in this solution must be in line with your organizational and industry goals. As Datafloq puts it, companies need to “dig down to understand if [data analytics] is worth it”, and if it’ll bring them the return of investment (ROI) that they are looking for.
Data analytics use case of a CIO interviewee from a Dutch online travel agency:
What’s the objective of analyzing the data? To improve booking experience and behavior recognition
What data are they looking at? Online customer behavior
What are they using to process the data? Big data analytics and predictive analytics
The same goes for all innovations that are the focus of CIOs. Although market trends are pointing to a certain technology, it doesn’t mean that everyone must jump on the bandwagon.
Data benchmark is just one indicator of your organization’s performance that will potentially inform you on which areas you need to improve, but identifying the right elements to benchmark is the key. It’s vital to choose elements and technologies that will bring the most positive impact to your organization’s growth and revenue.
The coronavirus is notably the singular cause behind many changes that have affected companies and sectors worldwide. And one area in particular that organizations are facing challenges in is cyber security.
Cyber crimes increased substantially amid the pandemic, with cyber criminals taking advantage of the crisis to attack businesses with malware, ransomware, and phishing emails. Due to the threats, business leaders are racing to patch recently uncovered vulnerabilities.
Trend Micro, a multinational cyber security software company, shares with Management Events how businesses can secure their systems in the current precarious landscape.
A Snippet of Trend Micro
Trend Micro was founded in 1988 developing antivirus software, but has evolved into a market leader in hybrid cloud security, network defense, endpoint security, and more.
Trusted by 45 of the top 50 global corporations and with over 500,000 businesses using their software, the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network is one of the most advanced threat intelligence networks in the world.
What we could not have anticipated was how the “new normal” — which would arise due to the COVID-19 pandemic — would affect the way we interact with the world.
For many people, working from home became not just an option, but a necessity as the pandemic forced organizations around the world to reconsider how and where they work. Unfortunately, the speed and urgency of the changes caught many businesses unprepared, leading to security gaps in both the home and the physical workplace.
Malicious actors took advantage of the situation by launching a slew of COVID-19-themed attacks using a diverse array of lures across a wide range of platforms, including emails, social media, malicious websites, and fake mobile apps.
Video conferencing apps became a favorite target for cyber criminals as the need for effective communication led to increased usage. These attacks ranged from pranks such as Zoombombing to full-fledged campaigns involving malware bundled with app installers.
Threat actor groups relentlessly continued their campaigns. Some groups chose to expand their operations to new platforms and operating systems, while others built campaigns around seemingly outdated techniques or made use of malware types often thought to be harmless
Ransomware continued to be highly targeted in nature, with one high-profile group deciding to drop its public operations to concentrate on private campaigns. Some ransomware operators have also threatened to expose the data they stole from their victims to the public.
Microsoft ended its support for Windows 7 early in the year, while at the same time devoted more resources to fixing vulnerabilities. The company patched a record number of bugs in the first half of 2020, which also included a number of significant vulnerabilities such as CurveBall.
Several industrial internet of things (IIoT) vulnerabilities that exist in decades-old third party software components proved that there is a lack of standardization and safe coding guidelines when it comes to IIoT systems. Due to the large number and interconnectedness of the potentially impacted devices, it will be difficult to determine the impact of these bugs for the foreseeable future.
2020 has proven in many ways that the cyber security industry does not exist in a static bubble, but shifts and changes in accordance with and in response to the events of the world around it. In a year that has dramatically impacted most of our lives, we take a look at the most significant stories and trends to determine what has changed and what we can expect from the new normal.
Read the full report to get deeper insights into cyber threats and issues for the first half of 2020.
Video conferencing apps became a favorite target