Vasupradha Ramachandran
The emergence of advanced technologies is creating more opportunities for organizations to improve their business operations and increase productivity. But there are equal amounts of challenges that come along with the advancement of digital technologies. One of the predominant challenges is the security concerns that arise with adopting these technologies.
Adopting rapidly developing technologies along with the need to keep up with the competitors by maintaining an advantageous edge has now become the aim goal for organizations. But adopting such technologies come with a lot of associated factors such as considering the requirement for regulatory compliance and their impact on cyber and physical threat areas of the organization. In this fast-paced digital world, embracing digital technologies has become more vital than ever. But without the right risk and trust framework, adopting digital technologies tends to be challenging. This article focuses on describing the risks associated with emerging technologies and risk management strategies to keep up with this ever-changing digital era.
Global Interdependence and digital conflicts
The emerging technologies that are dominating the business landscape are 5G, satellite communications, artificial intelligence, quantum and cloud computing. These technologies offer various benefits to businesses. But the growing complexity and the scale of these technologies can no longer rely on the existing architectures as it could increase the chances for digital threats which can be difficult to manage in the long run.
For international organizations, adopting digital technologies is a bit more challenging because of the geographical constraints and the regulatory compliance that varies from country to country. Businesses will have to consider the macro-level political and business-related security considerations, especially when engaging with a supply chain partner.
Digital conflicts can also emerge from social networks. Sometimes, aggressive campaigning might expose complex disinformation about the organization or its products. The major cause for such mishaps would often be the organizations’ urge to promote their products/services to their target audience. To avoid such events, organizations, stakeholders and related teams must know to perform local, regional and global development operations. This will also help in effectively identifying, identifying and addressing disinformation campaigns.
The best part about emerging technologies is that they are capable of enabling hyperconnectivity between devices, networks and services that are interdependent and work on highly advanced infrastructures. But this hyperconnectivity between a number of devices will make it challenging to identify threats across complex areas like the supply chain. Additionally, the vulnerability of one device in the network will effectively compromise the entire network of connected devices. This makes it essential for companies to amend their risk management strategies. An effective risk management strategy must focus on understanding the infrastructure better and offer access to companies’ data, networks and systems. Another important aspect to consider is how connectivity exposes their infrastructure to cyber threats and the measures that can be taken to prevent themselves from these attacks and vulnerabilities.
Emerging technologies and risks
The advancement in the field of artificial intelligence and the development of quantum computing have significantly contributed to the productivity and efficiency of business operations. But these technologies are also far more advanced. So the evolution of AI-powered tools combined with the computational capabilities of a quantum computer, if used by a hacker or a cybercriminal, would have unexplainable impacts on organizations. In the worst-case scenario, it could potentially disrupt the entire operations of an organization.
Now is the high time for enterprises to enhance their existing risk management capabilities to provide defense against cyber threats and offer resilience. Cybersecurity professionals have to scale up their knowledge to boost their understanding of emerging technologies and the associated risks.
Businesses today are rapidly shifting towards adopting cloud infrastructure from the age-old traditional on-premise infrastructure. By 2025, distributed cloud technologies are expected to be widely adopted. Regardless of offering flexibility, stability and increased operational efficiency, cloud infrastructure will become one of the major sectors that are highly focused by cybercriminals. Automated environments, shared service environments and smart manufacturing industries are also highly vulnerable to cyber threats. Hence cloud service providers must adopt the right strategies to meet business requirements while maintaining their infrastructure intact against all forms of cyberattacks.
As mentioned earlier, the emergence of quantum computing has tremendously increased computational capabilities. With such high performances, it can process big data, assist with innovations and benefit scientific and medical research to create new opportunities. On the other hand, if such capabilities fall into the hands of a cybercriminal it would become easier to decrypt the encrypted data and have access to sensitive data.
Holistic risk management for emerging technologies
Organizations can leverage the capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop powerful threat intelligence capabilities and information-sharing platforms. This way, the network defenders can automate security policies and detect threats seamlessly. It is no surprise that technology is the way to defend against emerging technology risks. Organizations must adopt a holistic resilience strategy and business continuity plans to continue the flow of business even in the event of major disruptions such as cyberattacks, DDoS attacks, etc. Businesses have to also undertake regular integrity checks and ensure that their cybersecurity strategies are up to date and can offer protection against threats.
The emerging digital environment is no longer a matter of security or technology challenge. Any disruption in the business flow in this advanced environment could become an existential risk for organizations. By being able to navigate through the complexities of emerging technologies, companies can build effective and sustainable, compliant and secure businesses.
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