Close up on a padlock lying on a blue carbon fibre surface. The padlock is locked, with a digital key inserted and displays a glowing OK symbol.

Some of the most common and recent digital transformation initiatives include moving applications and workflows to the cloud and deploying Internet of Things (IoT) devices on the corporate network to adapt to the new business environment.

However, this is just the beginning. Workplaces will continue to implement digital transformation projects to meet the needs of the rapidly growing, tech savvy millennial workforce. These new projects will provide more opportunities to connect, collaborate and drive business innovation in the cloud.

With nearly one in three people now working from home, many companies will also be increasingly exposed to cyber security threats as a result of their expanded attack surface.

The emergence of the digitalised workplace provides new opportunities for organisations to review the role of their cyber security. In the new work environment, online security no longer has a singular purpose. Instead, organisations can now use their cyber security to move beyond purely protecting against security threats to helping the business achieve its desired digital innovation outcomes.

The evolution of cyber security
Historically, the data centre was the network’s primary point of entry and exit, however the explosion of new connected devices such as automated transport systems, IoT and smart factories, along with 5G, and hyperscale cloud deployments has expanded the perimeter across the entire organisational infrastructure.
While first- and second-generation firewall security reliably protected organisations in the past, they can no longer keep up with the needs of the rapidly evolving digital environment. The new digitalised organisation requires next-generation network security that delivers end-to-end segmentation and protection for data, users and infrastructure everywhere.

How security drives innovation
The next generation of cyber security will still protect against cyber threats, however it will also solve business challenges and help organisations achieve their desired digital innovation outcomes through:

  • broad visibility of the entire digital attack surface to better identify and manage risks before they impact the organisation
  • integrated solutions that reduce the complexity of supporting multiple point products, which improves organisational efficiencies
  • automated workflows with integrated audit and compliance services that help increase the organisation’s speed of operations, freeing up employees to focus on driving new ideas and opportunities
  • the ability to more quickly, easily and securely scale the workforce to align with rapidly changing business needs.

The next focus for organisations is the convergence of hyperspeed, hyperconnectivity and hyperscale. This will let customers and employees seamlessly interact, and management teams access and analyse large volumes of business data, in near real-time at any time and on any device.  Next-generation cyber security lets organisations achieve this through delivering integrated and automated protection from IoT to multicloud environments, which lets the business focus on accelerating operations, improving connectivity and achieving better business agility.

The next-generation security also provides access to security-driven networking, zero trust network access, dynamic cloud security, and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven security operations to ensure the security of data and applications, which is particularly critical for organisations that want to protect innovation.

The best security model that supports innovation leverages open standards and a common operating system, which means different security technologies can operate as a single, consistent system. This delivers consistent visibility and integrated control that can dynamically extend and adapt in accordance with changes to operational and networking requirements.

To find out more about how next-generation cyber security can help your organisation drive innovation, contact the Nexon Cyber Security team today.