| | March 20158CIOReviewThe world has become increasingly digitally interconnected, with a growing reliance on technology in all aspects of our personal and professional lives.This connectedness represents an immense opportunity for companies to drive competitive business value, leveraging the digital transformation that is happening across mobile, social and cloud technologies.However, there is a corresponding growth in cybersecurity risk that potentially undermines the value of the state of connectedness. With each new device, online account or application, people are increasing the complexity and scope of their digital footprint and potential exposure. Navigating today's technology landscape successfully requires more rigorous security controls and policies within the enterprise, to manage the vulnerabilities that this complexity creates. The new value generated in today's digital world can be quickly diminished as a result of a single, cybersecurity incident ­ whether malicious or unintentional.The business-level implications that can threaten a company's position in the market include loss in customer loyalty, brand reputation, intellectual property (IP), market share, profits, and revenue. As technology continues to evolve as a core part of business, cybersecurity needs to be embedded in an enterprise's strategy and culture. Consider the following:· 243 is the median number of days attackers are present on a victim network before detection.· $3.5M is the average cost of a data breach to a company - up 15 percent from 2013.· The global impact of cyber-attacks could be as much as $3 trillion in lost productivity and growth.With cybersecurity making headline news more frequently, it is clear to see how any disruption has broad impact both for the affected businesses and their customers. These current events have also raised awareness for companies and individuals about the vulnerability of their data. As a result, customers have a new level of expectation about the security and privacy of the products and services they use. Security executives have an obligation to help their companies meet or exceed these customer expectations, elevating the cyber security discussion to the corporate boardroom.While executive leaders and board members increasingly have cybersecurity on their radars, there is still a general lack of awareness about a need, at the most basic level, for an overarching security strategy and operating m o d e l w i t h i n the enterprise. Aligning security assets not only drives more comprehensive protection across a company, but enables cost savings that drive better stakeholder value. As a first step, work with your leadership to establish clear protection principles that define the most valuable assets within your company. This creates a "north star" for you security strategy and program, and importantly, creates a common vernacular as you assess priorities for your business. Within Microsoft, we have defined our core protection By Bret Arsenault, VP & CISO, Microsoft CorporationSecurity: From the Back Room to the Boardroomopinionin myBret Arsenault
< Page 7 | Page 9 >