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Today, Sogeti and IBM launch their latest book: Staying ahead in the Cyber Security Game. In the book, the authors describe the present day state of security: the threats, the changes and the challenges companies are facing. The book, which was written by Sogeti in collaboration with IBM, and will be available today. You can order a copy, or download a digital pdf from the Sogeti bookstore (or perhaps ask your Sogeti contact person for a hardcover copy?)
Cyber Security is ‘hot’. Not a day goes by or new threats have been discovered, and new defenses have been introduced. A recent report estimated the total global damage inflicted by cyber crime to be close to 500 billion dollars, and that’s not even counting the effects of ‘cyber-warfare’. What should you do? What can you do as a person, and what should companies do?
The book highlights the big changes that are happening in cyber security: from the mobile revolution and BYOD hype to increased acceptance of the fact that ‘you will be hacked’. And that it’s ok to accept that you will be hacked, just like any bank knows that they will face fraud, or any store knows they will face theft. It’s how you minimize the impact and organize the response that counts, at least as much as prevention, defense and deterrence. This of course has consequences for how you organize and execute your security, your strategy etc.
These topics, and more, can be found in this 80 page book, that is written in such a way that it’s interesting for both the security experts as well as any manager who is in some way touched by information technology, security or organizational risk management…. which covers probably everybody these days?
New book: Staying ahead in the Cyber Security Game!
About the author
SogetiLabs gathers distinguished technology leaders from around the Sogeti world. It is an initiative explaining not how IT works, but what IT means for business.
I’ve started reading the book…but already the preface by mr. van Waayenburg seems very strange. He says the following: “However the current, ever increasing, adoption of digital technology has been accompanied with a lack of understanding of the consequential stakes, especially amongst the young generations. “We don’t care how it works, as long as it works.” Therefore, we have become vulnerable.”
I do not contest that the young generations do not have an attitude where they do not really think about how it works (nor care) but that it works. However he writes it in a way that you can conclude that this is the reason why we have become vulnerable. With that he overlooks 2 important things: the people making business decisions at the level is he talking about “anything ranging from railway track switching, to air traffic control, from gas and electricity distribution to chlorinating our water supply” are not the young generations so please take a look in the mirror. Second of all, the people that actually are making those decisions are even less tech savvy and probably don’t care how it works either. Because probably 95% of the population don’t care how it works, just that it does.
So I do not contest that young people do not care how it works. But he cannot say that it is the fault of the young generations that we’ve become vulnerable. Because almost nobody actually cares how it works.
Hi Maarten,
I think the point is that perhaps the ‘older’ generation has some reservations and worries about technology. They grew up with unreliable technology and it was something ‘new’, to be looked at with suspicion perhaps. For the new generation, technology has always been there, as part of everyday life, and these worries are a lot less. In the 90-ies, when you bought a computer, you spent days installing the OS, the applications, plugging in extra hardware etc. so there was a real hands-on experience of it being ‘technology’. Today, you just buy an iPad at a store and start using it right away. I think that is why it says ‘especially the young generation’. But I fully agree that in all other levels and segments of society, security awareness (or taking security into account when making decisions) could also be a lot better!
Thanks for your comment!