Growing companies need to focus on security: Analyst

Organisations enjoying rapid growth and success should be conscious not to let security take a back seat, warns professional services firm, Deloitte.

Deloitte national security and privacy partner, Tommy Viljoen, said the increased security risk often occurs during periods of rapid growth as IT departments contend with day-to-day issues and managing system availability.

“Resource and infrastructure companies are often considered most at risk from global hackers and are targets for industrial espionage, however we are also seeing retail, manufacturing and other industries now being targeted as business conditions improve,” Viljoen said.

According to Viljoen, cyber attacks are more common than people realise, he warns that for every organisation experiencing the attacks, many more are leaving themselves “wide open”.

“Ensuring information security is under control requires a mix of strategy, pragmatism, an alert culture and good technical skills.

“It is important they have their security systems tested and then devise solutions to manage and prevent attacks,” he said.

He said private data, intellectual property, cyber infrastructure, and even military and national security could all be compromised, either deliberately or inadvertently through vulnerabilities "of a relatively immature, unregulated global internet”.

He advised organisations to put in place risk management techniques for the ongoing protection of cyber assets and understanding vulnerabilities.

“No matter how much testing you do, if you don’t have an overall framework and approach to security that focuses on creating and delivering a sustainable level of security, you may find yourself compromised, asking reactive questions and dealing with consequences,” he said.

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