KPMG Jamaica: Cybersecurity mission critical for growth
Published:Wednesday | September 25, 2019 | 12:34 AM
Robust cybersecurity, training, and a culture change are key to growth and adaptability, says KPMG Jamaica in the wake of the release of the new Global CEO Outlook Survey.
The report by KPMG International says that CEOs are confronting an era of unprecedented change and economic uncertainty and that with uncharted waters ahead, they are determined to build the resilience required to ensure that their organisations emerge even stronger in the future.
The survey says that 94 per cent of the CEOs polled were confident in their own business’ growth prospects; at the same time ,84 per cent are transforming their leadership teams to strengthen resilience.
Managing partner of KPMG in Jamaica R. Tarun Handa, says that local organisations are recognising that cybersecurity resilience will be a key driver to growth and agility.
“As cyberthreats evolve, organizations will need to become more vigilant, and information security governance will be a crucial discussion point on the boards and C-level agenda. Implementing an information security management system, the upskilling of the workforce and continuous information security awareness and training are key components to foster a cohesive and robust cybersecurity culture and mindset,” said Handa in a release from KPMG.
He also told the Financial Gleaner that KPMG Jamaica was seeing an increase in cybersecurity incidents, such as ransomware and network breaches, and that the publicity around those incidents was triggering action at the board level to improve cybersecurity resilience and close security gaps.
Key stakeholders
Handa says that business partners and key stakeholders are demanding that local organisations take cybersecurity seriously. He adds that while no needs assessment was done for the Jamaican market in the 2019 survey, the the KPMG 2017 Cyber Security Benchmark had a key finding that there was an absence of a strong cybersecurity governance or strategy in the country.
Handa warned that in the event of a major security incident the cost for recovery and to restore from reputational damage can be exponential for an organisation, especially one that is operating in a highly regulated and competitive market environment, and that productivity loss and frequent security incidents could severely limit revenue earning potential and shareholder confidence.
“Organisations wishing to transform to an agile culture are also more prone to have setbacks, which can easily spiral out of control, and cause these organisations to suffer significant impact to their bottom line and business viability,” he said.