By Pritam Shah, Global Practice Head – OT Security and Data Security, Inspira Enterprise
Amazon’s product recommendations, based on customer data, and Netflix’s personalized recommendations, created on viewers’ data, have increased sales and higher retention rates, respectively. Data is becoming the lifeforce of a business with the digital landscape having undergone a paradigm shift. Organisations that safeguard their data build trust and enhance their reputation. Customers refuse to be associated with brands they do not trust. Today, all organisations are increasingly data-driven, leveraging data for operational efficiency, customer experience, innovation, and informed decision-making.
Being a core asset, data requires advanced tools and technologies to gather, store, and access it. While various security compliance frameworks and industry standards, such as NIST CSF, ISO/IEC 27001, HIPAA Security Rule, and India’s DPDP, have driven organisations to strengthen their security posture, compliance alone is no longer sufficient. Cyber threats are evolving at a speed faster than the time taken for updating compliance standards. Hence compliance-only approach only offers a false sense of security while organisations continue to remain vulnerable to AI-driven, modern-day threats.
When compliance falls short
Cyber compliance is something organisations across industrial sectors take seriously, especially with new regulations getting introduced and non-compliance having consequences such as hefty penalties. Hence, businesses are placing compliance among their top priorities. However, hyper-focusing only on compliance can lead to tunnel vision, crippling creativity, and innovation. It fails to offer a comprehensive risk assessment due to the checklist approach it follows, exposing organizations to vulnerabilities and fast-evolving threats.
Having a compliance-first mindset can lead to incomplete risk assessment, creating blind spots and security gaps in security provisions. The security controls are deployed only to stay compliant for the yearly audit rather than address real risks. Moreover, such audit calendars are not followed by the dynamic and adaptive cyber threats that can attack any day and at any time. Organisations that totally rely on compliance are only reacting to existing risks but not getting fully prepared for unprecedented threats.
Data Security has evolved as a business imperative
With businesses relying on data for operations, customer engagement, and decision-making, ensuring data security protects both users and organisations. Data breaches have severe consequences, including financial losses, reputational damage, customer churn, and regulatory penalties. With data moving across on-premises data centers, cloud platforms, third-party ecosystems, remote work environments, and AI-driven applications, there is a need for a holistic, culture-driven approach to cybersecurity.
Leadership commitment is key
With cybersecurity not being an issue limited to the IT department, but an organization-wide priority, leadership plays a crucial role in providing direction to employees. Data security has to be embedded in all digital transformation initiatives across business units. Leadership has to think beyond compliance and audit requirements and fund security initiatives that reduce risk. Investing in training all employees and executives on security and best practices, with the executive team leading by example, will ensure smooth business operations, secure customer trust, and compliance with regulatory measures. Teams and individuals who demonstrate strong security behavior and best practices have to be rewarded as well.
Shifting to a data-centric model
Data protection traditionally was focused on safeguarding the perimeter by securing networks and systems within the physical boundaries where data was normally stored. But with the introduction of cloud computing, a data-centric approach had to be followed, where data had to be safeguarded outside the traditional boundary across diverse locations. All security efforts are focused on protecting the data, which includes encryption and data access controls, data discovery and classification, among others. Organisations have to build a successful data-centric security strategy that focuses on robust security efforts that require strong data governance, too.
Integrating security into the software development lifecycle
To develop secure software solutions, security has to be incorporated into every phase, from planning and design through implementation and production, across the software development lifecycle, and not as an afterthought. By weaving security into every part of the process, this ensures rapid, secure, and superior quality software delivery, along with stable and secure products.
Continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines are critical in DevSecOps as they are designed to include security checks, automated testing, and compliance monitoring throughout the development lifecycle, minimizing the risks of security breaches. This shift-left approach of integrating security into the design phase employs the security by design principle, aiming to proactively identify and address all security vulnerabilities, giving rise to resilient applications. By adopting the DevSecOps culture, security becomes a shared responsibility of the entire team across the organization.
As today’s organisations operate within the digital ecosystem of partners, vendors, and service providers, the culture of data security should extend beyond organizational boundaries, into third-party ecosystems, powered by consistent data and shared threat intelligence. It is also crucial to note that establishing a culture of data security is an ongoing process, and organizations following this will succeed in the modern digital enterprise landscape.