The CEO Vs The FANG

In Order To Mitigate The Threat Of A Cybersecurity Breach Undermining Your Business And Coming Under Fire From The Gdpr, As Ceo You Have To Ensure That Everything Is Watertight.

- Alexandra Cain

This year regulators got serious about cyber safety, which means the onus is now on CEOs to take a leadership position in their businesses to ensure that everyone prioritises IT security.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation is the big daddy of cyber laws. In a part of the world that has always valued the protection of private information, authorities are mounting a defence against the FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) sector’s relentless pursuit of data.

But around the world, regulators are hot for cyber safety and are laser-focused on stopping cybercriminals in their tracks, with steep fines for companies with sloppy IT safety records. As a result, CEOs must instill a cyber-safe culture – and it starts with them.

Sean Duca is the Asia–Pacific Vice President for IT security business Palo Alto Networks. He says that in the past cybersecurity has been seen as a box-ticking exercise rather than an opportunity to properly protect data.

“But compliance doesn’t equal security. Over the past 20 years, cyber challenges have grown and huge amounts of information have been compromised. To help prevent this, people and technology need to be in sync,” says Duca.

“You have to get people involved in building security as a culture. It has to start from the top. If it doesn’t, there won’t be enough guidance about what it really means to be secure and safe,” he says.