COVID-19 and the Acceleration of Digital Transformation
Fri, May 28, 2021 Expansion MX article "COVID-19 y la aceleración de la transformación digital.”
https://expansion.mx/opinion/2021/05/27/covid-aceleracion-transformacion-digital
This crisis demonstrated its central role for all businesses, regardless of type. It confirmed my long-standing mantra: technology is business, and business is technology, says Delphine Icart.
(Expansión) – The COVID-19 crisis brought multiple and profound changes to the way we work, collaborate, lead, and maintain our business relationships. It forced us to change collectively in order to find a common path forward—one where we can continue to exist in this “new normal.”
Incredibly, it also accelerated digital transformation: there are no longer debates about the need or path forward on this topic.
The health emergency fostered an empathetic collaboration and dialogue between business and technology—something that’s often difficult to achieve. It even put an end to debates, allowing us to focus collectively on a common goal: survival.
The shared sense of urgency enabled us to achieve miracles—delivering years-long projects in weeks or months. IT teams became superheroes, making it possible for business to continue selling, supporting, and collaborating. This crisis showed the central role of technology in all types of businesses. It confirmed my mantra over the years: technology is business, and business is technology.
But these benefits came with a high cost: the rise of cybercrime. This central role of technology and the need for accelerated change, within a remote working context, exposed us to exponential security risks.
Cybercriminals took advantage of the crisis to strengthen their operations, using more advanced skills and exerting greater pressure on all economic actors.
No organization is 100% secure. Attack methods are numerous, constantly evolving, and often start with our inboxes. In 2020, Mexico ranked seventh globally in the number of emails containing malicious attachments or links to phishing sites, accounting for 3.34% of the total. Another risk factor is our own people. Some studies show that 62% of security incidents result from employee negligence.
So, how do we stop playing the victim in this situation? Of course, all companies must strengthen their security investments and ensure continuous updates to their protection, control, and monitoring tools.
I am convinced the solution is collective. Security cannot be the sole responsibility of IT or security teams. In this rapid digital transformation process, we are all responsible for security.
Every player in the digital value chain must play a role: from system developers to end customers, we must all adopt a breach mindset to protect—at every level—the security of company data and assets, as well as those of partners and clients.
How do we achieve this? Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge! Technology and security are not black boxes. Many best practices are simply common sense—starting with not sharing passwords.
With the development of digital tools, each organization must contribute to collective knowledge. We can’t build new applications without educating and guiding all users and partners on the associated risks and the good practices everyone can follow in their daily lives.
Each user must be aware of their responsibility and the role they must play in protecting the collective. Digitalization is a gift—but it comes with the responsibility to educate oneself and others.
