VIEWPOINT
A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO PROTECT YOUR ASSETS AS THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD BECOMES EVER MORE CONNECTED AND COMPLEX, THE NEED TO EMBED PERVASIVE CYBERSECURITY POLICIES IS PARAMOUNT, SAYS TIM GRIEVESON, CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER, AVEVA
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n an age of rapid digitisation and always-on connectivity, the industrial landscape has never been more ready for transformation. Post-pandemic, companies have learned radical lessons about how to run and optimise systems in unpredictable operational times. As such, global organisations have been compelled take decisive action by putting technology at the very heart of their business processes. Cybersecurity is a key business differential in ensuring these operations are secure and resilient. With the rapid and significant need to enable remote work and team collaboration, software solutions like Cloud, Edge and IoT can pave the way for improved business performance and procedures. But with great opportunities also come challenges. As such, more complex industry technology solutions demand a heightened focus on cybersecurity and securely enabling the work-from-anywhere culture. It’s no accident that the latest forecast from Gartner predicts worldwide spending on information security and risk management technology and services is predicted to grow 12.4 percent to reach $150.4 billion in 2021. Cybersecurity was the top priority for new spending, with 61 percent of the more than 2,000 CIOs surveyed increasing investment in information security this year, the IT research firm said. Security services including consulting, hardware support, implementation and outsourced services represent the largest category 12
CXO INSIGHT ME
AUGUST 2021
of spending in 2021, at almost $72.5 billion worldwide. Industrial risks According to global cybersecurity analysts, industrial systems are still not yet sufficiently protected against the new and multi-faceted risks of digital transformation, despite being susceptible to increasing risks for many years. In order to be effective, company cybersecurity policies must proactively and holistically pervade the entire organisation. A balance should also be struck between mitigating risks and
enabling new business initiatives. What’s more, it’s imperative that companies focus not only on training staff but also on selecting appropriate and best-of-breed technology partners who build security into the ecosystem of how they operate as opposed to charging extra or having security as an add-on. Key security considerations Industrial businesses that embrace transformation and have a holistic view of cybersecurity are benefitting from diverse technology ecosystem development, including connected devices, edge
