centre of attention security needs to play in enabling successful innovation .
Earlier that same month , the government set out its approach to tackling cyber threats with its National Cybersecurity Strategy , which has been designed to establish the UK as one of the most secure places to do business globally . It referenced the need for the right regulatory framework to be in place that is agile enough to foster growth and innovation .
Whether conscious or not , it is illustrative of just how easy it is to put cyber security in a box or to see it as an add-on or stand alone consideration for a business , rather than a crucial part of realising innovation . The fact is , today it needs to be a consideration in every business process , at every stage of its growth , particularly when it is looking to innovate and trial new products and services , a point at which it could be particularly vulnerable .
Conflicting pressures Today , the secure and responsible use of data is essential to fuelling innovation and to delivering the intelligent business insight that helps organisations get ahead of the competition . But there is a catch – we live in a world where the volume and severity of cyber threats continues to grow . So much so , we risk facing a secure innovation paradox as a result of the conflicting pressures technology is putting on organisations .
It is , however , possible to overcome these pressures and have the best of both worlds . Cyber security policies are now able to deliver intelligence in real time to help protect against cyber threats . Security and innovation , if managed correctly , can actually work as a well oiled machine , fuelling successful digital transformation , but it would be unwise to consider the two in siloes .
You can ’ t protect what you can ’ t see Taking a secure approach to digital innovation starts with being armed with the necessary tools and intelligence to fully protect the organisation – after all – you can ’ t protect against what you can ’ t see or don ’ t know is a threat .
Talos , Cisco ’ s threat intelligence and security research organisation , is an elite group of around 250 security experts who are devoted to providing superior protection for Cisco ’ s customers , products and services . Talos detects , analyses and protects against both known and emerging threats from across the globe by aggregating and analysing Cisco ’ s network data , allowing it to identify issues quickly and pass this insight on to customers and the wider internet community to help arm the collective fight against cybercrime .
This technique allows breaches to be detected in as little as 13 hours compared with the industry average , which currently stands at around 100 to 200 days . Putting that in context , today ’ s average large enterprise will experience on average 70,000 security events every week . Not only is the volume now mind boggling , checking which of these pose a serious threat is time consuming and costly , so much so , the Ponemon Institute estimates that it costs on average $ 1.3m per annum in time lost .
While the common approach to securing digital technologies has so far been to restrict users ’ accessibility , as the government has recognised , organisations must now deploy more intelligent and flexible approaches to allow security to be an enabler rather than a hindrance to innovation .
Intelligent data centres join the fight against cybercrime Cisco ’ s latest data centre platform , Tetration Analytics , is an example of innovation that has resulted in a new and more comprehensive way to tackle cyber security . It allows organisations to have full visibility across everything in their data centre in real time , with the ability to store captured events for up to a year . This provides organisations with the ability to look back and forward for patterns in activity , as well as predict future business cycles . It even provides security at the platform-access level with the ability to deploy an automated white-list policy .
Add that to the existing ability to use the network itself as a sensor , where security is built-in not bolted on , that monitors the environment and identifies anomalies that could be fraudulent or highlight malicious behaviour and it ’ s possible to see just how ingrained cyber security needs to be within an organisation .
Ultimately , it is proof that innovation and security can go hand-in-hand . At a time when an organisation ’ s data is its most prized asset , it is essential that it is able to innovate without putting its most vital information at unnecessary risk . Today an organisation cannot compete if it lets this risk stop it from innovating , but neither can it put its data at unnecessary risk in the process . Not only does its own business success demand it , as the Chancellor set out in the Autumn Statement , the growth of the UK economy is also dependent on businesses overcoming it .
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