Having a security-centric company culture is essential in today’s digital world. It means that organizations prioritize security and make it part of their core operations. As such, the right security measures are put into place and teams are trained to recognize and respond to potential threats. A security-centric culture helps organizations stay ahead of potential threats, reduce the risk of security breaches, and protect the data of their customers and employees. While this proactive approach to cybersecurity should be embraced by all organizations, it’s easier said than done.
We’ve rounded up four security experts to share their insights on how to build a security-centric company culture.
Maybe an open door, but education and awareness are necessary and should be engrained in the company’s DNA. It should be identifiable as a company feature when being onboarded. To underline and provide insight and impact, frequent updates on what is happening in the security scene that relates to the business and “the human” generate motivation and pride and ensures it becomes part of the culture. Communication, as usual, is critical.
“Industry Best Guessing.” I coined this term based on my years of working with hundreds of organizations whose lack of maturity in cybersecurity contributes to the escalation of incidents causing financial hardships, at a minimum, up to the catastrophic loss to their businesses.
These warnings have been sounding off for decades. Still, they are only now resonating based on current events and the changing landscape of threats, and insurers taking a firmer stance who require a more robust security practice to get coverage.
Losses equivalent to 10.5 trillion are expected by the end of 2025. When you look at the top 10 countries by GDP, this will rank at number three if attributed to a country.
Following industry best practices is not just how businesses should operate starting now; it could save your business. There is no silver bullet, but there is an abundance of industry best-guessing.
One way to build a security-centric culture is to start with the people who make up the culture. Ask, what is their cybersecurity knowledge level? What do they understand about cybersecurity? Focusing on building a company based on people who get cybersecurity will go a long way in building a security-centric culture by working backwards in the supply chain of the people in the organization.
The opposite? It only takes one person in an organization to undue so much cybersecurity progress. Many debrief indicate that a human element can significantly contribute to a cybersecurity incident. Building a team that puts cybersecurity as a pillar and core value will substantially impact the likelihood of a security-centric culture.
Technology is an essential tool for most businesses today. Securing this technology needs to be a priority, and a security-centric culture is a key to achieving this goal. Building a company culture with security as a key focus should be considered a journey, not a destination. Creating a roadmap and prioritizing initiatives can help ensure your journey stays on track. Essential considerations include a holistic approach consisting of people, processes and technology. Employees need to be exposed to ongoing security awareness training. Security products and configurations should be implemented through the entire technology stack, from the end user to the underlining components of the services they access and everything in between. Company security must be considered in every initiative with a zero-trust model. Finally, as this is a journey, the security posture needs to be evaluated regularly to ensure that protection is in place for the current threat landscape and new threats on the horizon. Let’s get excited about security and tackle this challenge together!
