Information security insights from McKinsey

Anyone who has an interest in the issue of cybersecurity should read the book excerpt ‘Repelling the Cyberattackers’ in McKinsey’s Quarterly, July 2015, by Tucker Bailey, James M. Kaplan, and Chris Rezek – click here to read the article.

However, as good as this advice is, especially as the world rushes at ever increasing speed towards digitising everything, we forget at our peril the need to concentrate on the basics. Having a secure online communication, document delivery and storage capability is a vital requirement and it is the place to start the whole process of planning a cybersecurity strategy.

Next comes getting everyone in the organisation into the habit of executing standard hygiene controls: regularly changing passwords, choosing a password methodology that has absolutely no connection to your personal life and only opening emails and especially attachments from people you know. Failure to adopt these simple rules is asking for trouble.

As ever, the human factor can be the weak spot – it is not just about putting secure IT solutions in place.

Paul D Stallard – Hurndall-Stallard Associates – July 2015

Paul Stallard is an independent corporate communications consultant, and advises clients on matters relating to information security and other business-critical issues.