Government says businesses should accept cyber security risks

Businesses need to concede that information security risks are not going away any time soon, and that uncertainty needs to be handled when it comes to decisions over technology projects, according to the government.

New guidance is currently  under development in which the government says businesses need to accept that uncertainty exists when it comes to cyber security, and that sometimes the wrong decision will be made.

Further, the government asserts in the guidance that a company can only make a decision with the information it has at hand. It reads:

“In hindsight, some decisions may be wrong; information and expertise help to reduce uncertainty, but rarely to zero. Become comfortable with uncertainty; cyber security incidents and mistakes will happen, so plan for this. Don’t seek blame – learn from them; independent advice from trusted sources can help build confidence.”

The guidance on cyber security risk management for technology projects advises that firms should employ staff who are security focussed and on hand to help bring projects to completion, as well as to communicate risks in a language that the whole company can understand.

Hiring cyber security personnel in the workforce can certainly mean the difference between project success and failure, as well as the prevention of other security-based mishaps. Should SMEs take the government’s advice on board, they will be looking to fill information risk jobs in particular. Having personnel in place who can make the right decision at the right time is a much-needed commodity in the current IT security climate.