Easy Steps to Managing Cybersecurity

FOREWORD

Not so long ago, looking after national security was an exclusive government responsibility. The digital age has changed that - and permanently. These days it is not just the organs of the state and its infrastructure which are the direct object of cyberattack, it is also the private sector, and at all levels. Individuals and corporate entities have of course always been expected to take reasonable precautions against crime but in the past they have not been called upon to be active players in helping create the framework for secure conditions. But as the private sector is both victim and solutions provider, partnership with government in combatting cyber predators on the economy and security of the nation has become essential. Indeed, it is not too much to say that good cybersecurity and cyber resilience have become a duty for the corporate sector to which these essays are addressed.

But, as the authors point out, not everyone has got the message. As three of them put it: "there is a schism between the reality of cybersecurity risk and the number of businesses engaging sufficiently seriously with the threat". Better reporting of breaches may account for some of the estimated rise in the huge losses attributable to cyber crime but, however one reads the figures, there is only one conclusion to draw: we are currently losing the battle. The types of actors, their motives and their modus operandi vary, but they all have the following features in common: stealth in breaking in, difficulty of detection and attribution and, in consequence, a high likelihood of success at low cost.