There are few individuals at a corporate level who care more about network security than a CIO. As networking continues to evolve and data access is tantamount to the ability to get things done, CIOs know that network security matters. They will shout it from the boardroom, their offices, and it’s what keeps them up at night. This is a realistic perspective and is informed by lived experience.
Data Security is Today’s Reality
A viewpoint on security that sums up this reality can be voice this way: “Security does not have a finish line.” This is a concern that is here to stay. You don’t “set it and forget it” with network and data security. Additionally, CIOs know that there is no such thing as having enough security. Most CIOs instead ask this question: “How much risk are we comfortable with?” Like it or not, this is the reality businesses face every day.
What CIOs Know
Further conversations with CIOs have produced some real gems on the subject. Greg Clark, CIO of Coca-Cola (2018-2022), said, “Cybersecurity is no longer an afterthought. It’s a business imperative.” Former General Electric CIO Mike Wiacek noted, “We need to move from a mentality of preventing breaches to one of quickly detecting and responding to them.” While researching, implementing, and managing the best security fit for your business is a daunting and many times costly undertaking, according to Jerome Sandhaus (Bank of America), it’s worth it: “The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of investing in cybersecurity.”
Data Security and The Club
Remember that red metal apparatus people would put on their steering wheel to deter would-be car thieves? It was called “The Club” and served as a reasonable deterrent for a time. Thieves got smart, though. They used everything from bolt cutters and hacksaws (to saw off the steering wheel) to liquid nitrogen (to freeze the lock and then hammer it off) to circumvent The Club. The easiest “hack” was to saw through the soft steering wheel and remove The Club. It deterred some criminals, but others, apparently with less to lose, made short work of a very visible deterrent.
So, is security just an illusion, then, as one unnamed CIO has noted? Can we ever achieve the perfect level of security? Heavy investments in world-class solutions can be undone in just a matter of seconds. “The biggest threat to our network security is our own employees.” That’s the assessment of Kevin Mitnick (a.k.a. The Condor”), a former hacker and security consultant who served on the board of KnowBe4. The balance between understanding that a security solution is necessary but may still not be foolproof is an interesting proposition.
Make the Choice
As a business leader concerned with protecting what’s yours, you have a choice to make. Do you invest in a data and network security or not? Train your team on threats or not? Build a disaster recovery plan or not? Prepare for a PR storm due to a security breach or not?
If you answered “or not” to any of these scenarios, we need to talk. Reach out to PKA today and let us help you turn your “or nots” into a workable, affordable, comprehensive cybersecurity solution. We’ll do our best to help you see what CIOs know: Data security matters.
It’s your business, your data, your call.
