Prioritise security management
Information security has always mattered, but it will be more important in the coming years. The expansion of digitisation means that we are ever more dependent on digital. And the more dependent we are, the greater the risks and consequences of mistakes. Hackers are constantly looking for vulnerabilities in mission-critical applications. They steal data, carry out ransomware attacks, abuse IT infrastructure or disrupt the continuity of services at their targets via DDos attacks.
Security should not be an afterthought. It should be high on your agenda. Not only because a proactive approach is always better than a reactive one, but also because the investments you make at an early stage are always less expensive than investments you are forced to make if security problems occur in later phases, with the added risks of reputational damage, financial damage, compliance problems or the loss of customers as a result.
Opportunity
Start with risk analysis: talk to the CEO and the lead of every process in the organisation (IT, HR, Finance, etc.). Map out together: 'where are the risks for us? Think of things like a hack or a phishing attack. But also, research: 'which colleagues, suppliers and partners have access to which information, systems, and applications? 'Make a joint assessment between acceptable risks and mitigating measures.
Opportunity
This is also the time to do a data audit : stricter laws and regulations regarding data storage in the future are the only guaranteed certainty. The sooner you map out the state of your data management, the smarter you can manage this.