Which company do you think of when you think of instances where someone took on the government regarding cybersecurity and consumer privacy? Apple, that’s who. Back in the 2000s, Apple was not thought of as a leader in consumer data protection or cybersecurity in general. Granted, they weren’t known for having a huge detriment in this area, but it wasn’t part of their vision they wanted to portray to the world. More recent events have changed that. Let’s discuss on “Cybersecurity – A Competitive Advantage to Your Company”.
Apple saw an opportunity to beef up their cybersecurity posture, and just as importantly, to advertise to consumers about their enhanced level of security. The iPhone decryption battle with the government in 2016 was a great example of this, to the point where some questioned how far was too far when it came to cybersecurity and privacy policy.
Regardless of where you stand on the issue, it’s unquestionable that Apple is working hard to have security be one of the top ten reasons that consumers should buy their products. They are not only focusing on smartphone security, either. Apple’s new data storage system for its entire line of products has encryption-at-rest as its central feature.
Let’s switch gears to the auto industry. What one word do you think of first when We ask you to describe Volvo? Usually the first word is safety. They advertise their cars as being the safest in the world, and they talk about how that gives them an advantage over their competition.
If you want to keep your anonymity online, which search engine should you use? DuckDuckGo, Inc. They specialize in offering a strong search engine without tracking your every move online.
Who makes the safest hammer in the world? The Estwing Manufacturing Company does, based in my hometown of Rockford, Illinois. Their hammers are all one piece, so it’s virtually impossible for the head of the hammer to separate from the handle and become a projectile. This sort of safety-based innovation is part of what has kept their manufacturing jobs onshore since 1923.
Let’s take this idea to your organization.
- If you produce a physical product, how important is the timeliness of your ability to deliver that product? Normally it’s very important, and if you can get it to a buyer more quickly than your competition, you have a CyberSecurity, a competitive advantage.
- If you provide a service, your ability to respond to the needs of your customers, and to give them the service they want in a timely manner, is imperative.
- If your operations are impacted less frequently by cybersecurity issues than your competition, you have a competitive advantage.
- If you are in an industry where privacy of your customers’ information is important—which includes more and more companies, as regulations like GDPR take hold—you can even use your cybersecurity program as a sales tool.
If Apple can creatively use cybersecurity as a competitive advantage, so can your company. Even if you aren’t in a business where cybersecurity is generally thought of as a true differentiator between vendors, you can still tip the tables in your favour. If you have more-robust cybersecurity and disaster recovery program then your competitor, you might be more willing than your competitor to sign a contract with a client that includes stiffer penalties to you if you can’t meet certain service-level agreements in the contract. This makes you a more attractive vendor, which is the heart of competitive advantage.
Sometimes people ask if it’s a mistake to bring up cybersecurity to customers because it could plant a seed in their mind that associates your product or service with cybersecurity incidents. We’ll be blunt: that is antiquated thinking. Between the 2014 Anthem healthcare breach, the 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach, the 2016 USA election hacking allegations, and the “WannaCry” ransomware issue of 2017, the media has already planted that seed in consumers’ minds. It’s up to you to address the already-planted seed with your customers in a positive light, rather than ignore it altogether.
A difficult loss to quantify is the loss of CyberSecurity, a competitive advantage. In a typical example, when the acquisition went wrong due to the hacking of an email server, the company being acquired lost a critical advantage in the negotiation process, and it became unrecoverable. If your competition gets hold of your new product plans and releases a copycat product ahead of yours, it could change the fundamental course of your business.
Read Also: Who Is Responsible for Cybersecurity Concerns at Your Company?
Extreme examples, but we know real-world instances of each one. Generally speaking, the business disruption aspect of breaches is the most damaging. Damage to your reputation is smaller, more temporary, and can be mitigated with a good public relations strategy. Fines from regulatory bodies have been relatively small overall.
Keeping your company resilient from cyber-attack instils a level of trust that is more and more advantageous to your organization. With each passing headline of company X, Y and Z falling victim to a cybersecurity breach, those that have not to gain a leg up on the trust your customers have in you.
However, a large silver lining exists in all of this. When a company does good planning for a potential disaster, such as a tornado, earthquake or snowstorm, the damage from such an event is likely reduced. That’s the whole point of planning. However, the likelihood of the event itself taking place is completely outside of the company’s control. Just because you have the best possible planning for an earthquake makes you no more or less likely to be hit by one. Good preparation for bad weather doesn’t change the weather forecast…
Cybersecurity planning is exactly the opposite. It will be a significant undertaking to take a good hard look at the cybersecurity requirements & scenarios and apply them to your company. The reward for doing so will be enormous, as you will dramatically stack the cards in your favour so that a breach happens to your competitors—and not to you.
