Digital Transformation Requires Security Transformation

Digital transformation is almost entirely about data. You need to generate and collect more data; use it more often; use it in more places; and use it faster. As a result, data security needs to be a big part of any transformation project.

Despite that, security is often brought in towards the end of the project. This is because transformation, rightly, is a business-driven project. But the security team still needs to be involved early. Waiting until the end is too late to ensure that security and compliance requirements can be met and can cause the entire project to fail.

New Technologies Require New Security

Another reason it’s important to involve security early is because transformation often uses new technology.

One big source of new data for digital transformation is from Internet of Things devices. Those are often connected to the network without involving the IT team, but IoT devices can have many security risks and are hard to update with patches.

The cloud is another new technology often introduced during transformation projects. Most cloud providers offer a wide range of services that can be easily accessed via self-service and free trial periods. While cloud providers rightly emphasize the security of their clouds, the protection of your data in the cloud remains your responsibility.

Along with cloud comes the ability to access data and applications from anywhere, including mobile devices. These devices also bring new security considerations.

The final new technology driving digital transformation is artificial intelligence and analytics. Ensuring that they provide valid results requires ensuring the integrity and security of the data they use.

New Approaches to Security

Making the security team part of the digital transformation project at an earlier phase allows the special security needs of these data projects to be built into the design rather than tacked on later. Projects that consider security upfront are far more likely to succeed.

Projects that consider security upfront also have the time to consider new approaches to security. Existing tools may not be adequate to protect data that’s used both in the cloud and on premises, as well as moved between clouds and data centers. It may be time to transform security and develop a comprehensive strategy rather than one patched together from multiple products that protect specific environments.

In addition to providing new security tools, businesses need to make sure security is managed and verified as part of every deployment. Companies that are relying on DevOps to get faster releases need to progress to DevSecOps to integrate security checks into the process.

And by the way, security systems themselves generate data. This data needs to be shared with all relevant departments and undergo its own analytics to detect incidents and threats. A consolidated view of all security data is as important to making good security decisions as consolidated views of business data are to business decisions.

Do you have plans to transform your information security as you transform your business? Contact dcVAST to learn more about the demands digital transformation places on your security team.