The growth of the Digital Customer Experience has begun a revolution in the way organizations do business. Cloud-first and mobile-first technology is driving the modern business era and uncovering new threats and security concerns for businesses who aim to transform. Leading industry researchers and analysts are predicting a rapid growth trajectory for these market disrupting technologies that will continue to increase the spotlight on gaps in cybersecurity, risk management, and compliance.

Gartner: "By 2020, a corporate 'no-cloud' policy will be as rare as a 'no-internet' policy is today." 

KPMG: "The question is no longer: 'How do I move to the cloud?'. Instead, it's 'Now that I'm in the cloud, how do I make sure I've optimized my investment and risk exposure?'"

International Data Corporation (IDC): "By 2020 clouds will stop being referred to as 'public' and 'private'. It will simply be the way business is done and IT is provisioned."

In the past, the security team within an organization has been viewed as the "No Team", setting up roadblocks to innovation and slowing progress. In today's fast-paced, digital world of cloud computing, mobile accessibility, big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and mixed reality, security can no longer afford to be in a reactive state, addressing new threats as they arise. Security of the future is transforming alongside other business units creating agility across the organization that enables the inovation needed to compete in a digital marketplace.

Are you in a position to ask: How can we make next year's initiatives more secure?

3 Steps to Enabling Innovation Through Security

1. Deliver a Stable and Predictable Core

This means evolving traditional defense in depth controls by centralizing, standardizing, and automating them to create a solid foundation for future growth. Headline grabbing attacks this year like WannaCry that effected over 300,000 computers in 150 countries and the Equifax breach which exposed the personal data of over 140 million U.S. consumers, are great examples of attacks that could have been minimized if more organizations centralized, standardized, and automated:

• Patch Management
• Monitoring and incident response
• End-user security training

Without traditional defense in depth controls for data, application, host, network, perimeter, physical, and policies / procedures / awareness, your organization is not only at risk for incident but also not prepared for the innovation you need to grow.

2. Modernize Security Capabilities

Cloud, mobile, big data, and 3D are just a few of the avenues for innovation in today's business arena. Security should be prepared to support these new technologies as well as future trends that may arise with modern threat detection, data security, identity & access management and next gen network controls. Forward-thinking security specialists will look to existing capabilities and develop an understanding of where they can be extended to meet the "new norm" or when a new capability is needed to evolve.

3.  Embed Security Into Innovation

With a solid foundation and established capabilities to support a digital world, security teams can shift focus to proactive business enablement. Security should no longer be an after-thought as new initiatives take shape but instead positioned as a priority early on and often in modernization strategies like digital transformation, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics.

Preliminary preparation with a standardized, automated core and modern security environment helps you define what DevSecOps means for your organization and gives you the stability and time needed to test and invest in new technologies. All of this drives maturity across foundational security domains and enforces tactical security controls to support the new era of modern business.

The stakes for cyber security are only getting higher as new technology makes way for new digital threats. If you are ready to make the journey to an agile and innovation enabling security infrastructure, you'll need to:

• Understand what you are protecting and why
• Have insight into where the business is investing and why
• Form a clear picture of your current security maturity
• Create a sound security strategy informed by all of the above

If you need help understanding the current state of your organization's security and expert guidance for positioning your security as an innovation enabler, email sales@valorem.com to ask about our Cloud Cybersecurity Assessment.