The Role of Cybersecurity in Protecting Business Innovation
The business landscape is in a constant state of motion. Stagnation is a prelude to failure, so companies must keep pace with a changing world. That requires them to find solutions to problems upon arrival or, better yet, in anticipation of them.
Competition, technology, products, and services are fluid. A company that wants to set itself apart has to juggle everything, all the time. And when it innovates something new, it needs to protect it to keep its edge.
In a digital world, technology drives innovation in one way or another. So, protecting it demands understanding the role of cybersecurity. Here’s how it protects business innovation.
Cybersecurity Controls Access
The old adage that “too many cooks spoil the broth” rings true in business. The key is to have the right people at the table doing the right job. They also need to have the freedom to pursue creative solutions to problems.
Virtually everything from communications to customer and prospect data, to marketing strategies and content, to intellectual property, is digital. And digital means it’s hackable and vulnerable to malware and ransomware. Cybersecurity measures, such as timely software updates, firewalls, web filters, and antivirus software, can protect digital information from external threats.
But it can also protect innovation from the enemy within.
Innovation can be stifled by unwieldy security protocols. Requiring every employee to obtain approval to access the information they need every time they need it isn’t sustainable. Moreover, it isn’t cost-effective to devote another employee to providing it.
Fortunately, an administrator log-in isn’t the only way those who need access can get it. Savvy endpoint privilege management software lets your IT pros control who uses applications without admin credentials. That keeps innovation flowing without rampant employee permissions.
The more employees who have administrative privileges, the more companies open themselves up to internal and external threats. Devious employees can sell intellectual property and other information for profit. Hackers with a wealth of log-in credentials and authentications to choose from will find ways to steal a company’s most innovative ideas. Cybersecurity can protect them.
Cybersecurity Works Hand in Hand With AI
Artificial intelligence and cybersecurity have a unique relationship. After all, companies and those that threaten their IP and other information can both employ it to their advantage. Whoever uses it more effectively will prevail in this fight.
AI can drive innovation in a company in multiple ways. It can automate routine tasks to free up employee time for brainstorming. It can improve supply chains and analyze millions of data points used to develop on-point marketing strategies. It can generate a broader range of potential solutions to business problems.
Once the ideas are flowing among employees, AI can enhance cybersecurity measures needed to protect them. It gathers massive amounts of data and looks for patterns that underpin predictive analyses. AI identifies anomalies that may indicate potential breaches, warning IT staff about them in advance.
Speaking of IT staff, AI’s handling of routine tasks frees them up to work on ways to beef up cybersecurity. Human talent can tackle more complex issues while AI runs in the background, alerting them when necessary.
AI is a digital technology that when used right, can propel innovation in a business, full steam ahead. But because it’s digital, it’s vulnerable. When teamed up with forward-thinking cybersecurity, it can also be a shield.
Cybersecurity Is Critical to Collaboration
Fewer companies that will be around for the future are making the journey all on their own. In an increasingly smaller world where businesses need help overcoming complex hurdles, collaboration is key to innovation. Cybersecurity plays a vital role in making that happen.
Sharing of information is inherent in collaboration. Even though it’s being shared with partners, presumably with trust, the disclosure itself can threaten the confidentiality of that information. So, companies need alliances to innovate, but that puts their information and intellectual property in a potentially precarious position.
In a digital universe, collaboration is best facilitated in the cloud. It allows companies to share data without allowing access to their internal systems. However, uploading to the cloud can make that data vulnerable to a broad range of threats.
At the same time, the cloud may provide protection against cyber threats that in-house mainframes cannot. Companies can encrypt files before uploading them to the cloud. They can provide a public decryption key to collaborators while guarding the private key. These measures keep partners out of a secure internal system while still providing necessary access.
Encryption, decryption, and shrewd rights management as cybersecurity measures can protect property in the cloud. That means companies can reap the benefits of cloud computing in building complex ecosystems while maintaining tight control over access. That’s a win-win.
A Vital Pairing
Of course, companies must be innovative in their business models, research and development, marketing strategies, and operations at every turn. It’s the only way they can succeed in today’s competitive landscape.
Digital technology is a primary reason why the market is so competitive. It levels out industry playing fields, but it also puts a company’s intellectual property and other information at risk. Digital technology makes information easy to access, enables the advantages of AI, and facilitates collaboration. To protect all that, companies need to invest in vigilant cybersecurity measures.
The bad actors are using it. Companies need to use it even better.
