Employee wellbeing and limited availability of sought-after cyber security skills intensifies the need for businesses to pivot quickly and better manage governance, risk and compliance (GRC).
Anna Collard, SVP content strategy and evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa, will unpack this at the ITWeb Governance, Risk and Compliance 2023 conference on 16 February 2023 at The Capital Empire, Sandton.
KnowBe4 cites 2022 research by KPMG which states that 75% of companies in Africa encountered challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified cyber professionals and only one in three companies had access to a sufficient talent pool.
“It is difficult to find and retain experienced security staff in our region,” says Collard.
The conference will take an in-depth look at how digitally re-imagined businesses use resilience and agility to handle these challenges.
In her presentation, Collard will put market research in context to discuss the impact of corporate well-being programs on the state of GRC programs, and why businesses need to adopt a more human-centric approach to security culture programs.
Vigilance in 2023
KnowBe4 Africa believes the pressure will only increase this year, especially in terms of protecting the business from the ever-increasing cyber threat landscape.
Collard says it is highly likely there will be a continued increase in sophistication and prevalence of mobile malware attacks, particularly against Android devices.
IOT also remains an area of concern as it integrates with operational environments and the risk factor rises. Collard explains, “There is IOT and there is operational technology, and then there are interconnected cyber-physical worlds or systems such as autonomous cars and digital twins that increase the attack surface. The key word for 2023 is vigilance. Companies need to become more vigilant, and they need to be more prepared for what lies ahead.”
Wellness check
While business leaders must have their fingers on the pulse of cyber security threat and defence, they also have to be aware of the wellbeing of their employees, especially in terms of stress, mental, emotional and physical exhaustion.
Collard points to the Tines State of Mental Health In Cybersecurity 2022 report which states that 51% of cybersecurity professionals self-identified as burnt out and 64% confirmed that mental health issues have impacted their ability to get work done.
The GRC2023 conference will highlight the impact of accelerated digitisation and adoption of emerging technologies across all industries, as well as that of an increasingly complex risk landscape.
It will also show why IT, legal and compliance leaders have to establish greater business ownership of risks and thereby empower employees to become more likely to act on, report and feel confident owning risks.
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