According to a Kaspersky survey, 98 percent of industrial companies consider sustainability to be important. Almost half plan to hire a chief sustainability officer. Cyber security is part of a general sustainability trend in companies. These are results from the survey “The State of Industrial Cybersecurity in the Era of Digitalization”.
Protecting against cyber threats that affect the health of employees and third parties is one of the most pressing challenges in industrial companies, according to a recent global survey by Kaspersky. Almost all companies (98 percent) believe that a sustainable development strategy and the position of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) could improve their cybersecurity. Around half have already planned or introduced technical measures (50 percent) and investments (44 percent) in this area, but only 44 percent would like to introduce the role of CSO.
More security for sensitive customer data
Sustainability is a complex topic that encompasses many areas of a company. Starting with legal compliance through a reliable supply chain and trustworthy customer relationships, it extends to social responsibility, environmentally friendly initiatives and human resources. In industrial companies in particular, protection against cyber threats is directly related to the physical security of employees, the security of sensitive customer data and in general with relationships with partners as well as people and the environment in general. This means that organizations need to view cybersecurity as part of the sustainability strategy so that corporate cybersecurity can be improved.
The latest Kaspersky survey shows that companies are the consequences of attacks that directly affect the life and health of their employees (32 percent) and other people (18 percent), as well as the loss of sensitive data (28 percent) as one of their own consider the biggest cybersecurity challenges. The introduction of specific sustainability initiatives, including the creation of the position of Chief Sustainability Officer, would be one way of mitigating such risks and improving the protection of the company.
Measures are often not coordinated with one another
However, strategies for sustainable development as well as corresponding investments, measures and roles are not all consistently coordinated with one another. While more than half (56 percent) of the companies do not plan to hire a CSO, 34 percent have at least additional technical measures and 25 percent are planning investments for sustainable development; 16 percent and 19 percent plan to do so in the future.
“The activities of companies, especially an industrial company, affect many aspects of society,” says Anton Shipulin, Solution Business Lead, Kaspersky Industrial CyberSecurity. “Sustainable development initiatives aim to ensure that these impacts are either neutral or positive. From this perspective, reliable protection against cyber threats is not only an individual goal of a company, but is part of a general sustainability trend. Implementing a policy means thinking about the importance of cybersecurity in an organization and how it can be enhanced to cover both corporate and industrial infrastructure while ensuring all employees are following the right cyber hygiene practices ”.
Straight to the survey at Kaspersky.com
About Kaspersky Kaspersky is an international cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky's in-depth threat intelligence and security expertise serve as the basis for innovative security solutions and services to protect companies, critical infrastructures, governments and private users worldwide. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection as well as a range of specialized security solutions and services to defend against complex and evolving cyber threats. Kaspersky technologies protect over 400 million users and 250.000 corporate customers. More information about Kaspersky can be found at www.kaspersky.com/