According to Accenture, companies that closely align their cybersecurity programs to business goals are 26% more likely to reduce the average cost of cybersecurity breaches and incidents as well as achieve target revenue growth, market share, and customer satisfaction.

Driving effective results

The report names a number of businesses that are setting the bar for cybersecurity initiatives. These businesses—which Accenture refers to as “cyber transformers” and represent 30% of respondents—achieve a balance between being excellent at cyber resilience and being in line with the corporate goal to improve business results.

“The accelerated adoption of digital technologies like generative AI — combined with complex regulations, geopolitical tensions, and economic uncertainties — is testing organizations’ approach to managing cyber risk,” Paolo Dal Cin, global lead of Accenture Security, stated

“In order to become commercially resilient in this fast changing environment, business leaders need to integrate cybersecurity into the fabric of their digital core transformation initiatives. The ability to drive great business outcomes is one of the major characteristics that sets cyber transformers apart, according to Dal Cin.

Prerequisites for becoming a Cyber Transformer

Cyber Transformers stand out from other businesses thanks to four features:

• Excel at integrating risk management and cybersecurity: Cyber transformers incorporate a cyber risk-based framework into their enterprise risk management program, have their executive leadership and cybersecurity operations agree on the importance of protecting assets and operations, and give cybersecurity risk a significant amount of weight (65% vs. 11%) when assessing overall enterprise risk.
• Increase security operations by utilizing cybersecurity as a service: Cyber transformers are more likely than other groups to engage managed services providers to handle cybersecurity operations (40% vs. 24%).
• Greater dedication to preserving their ecology: Cyber transformers are more likely than other companies to adopt such measures as requiring their ecosystem or supply chain partners to adhere to strict cybersecurity standards (41% vs. 29%) and incorporate them into their incident response plan (45% vs. 37%).
• Greatly depend on automation: For their cybersecurity programs, cyber transformers are far more likely than other organizations to depend extensively on automation (89% vs. 57%). Additionally, 96% of respondents whose companies heavily automate their cybersecurity reported that automation aids in addressing cyber talent shortages, a significant obstacle for any business aiming for cyber resilience.

Organizations strive to enhance their cybersecurity initiatives

According to Jacky Fox, Accenture Security lead for Europe, “Organizations are taking steps to better align cybersecurity programs with business goals, but there is still plenty of room for improvement, with more than 60% of respondents still falling victim to successful breaches coming from outside their organizations.”

“A business-led CISO who acts as an educator and collaborator with non-security leaders is necessary to work more productively across the C-suite and to ensure that security efforts have a positive business impact,” said Fox.

According to the report, businesses are nearly six times more likely to have successful digital transformations than those who don’t implement strong cybersecurity practices and three key cybersecurity actions into their digital transformation efforts.

The following cybersecurity measures can be implemented by enterprises to improve the success and satisfaction of their digital transformations:

• Prior to the launch of any new business services or products, cybersecurity measures must be in place.
• Apply cybersecurity gradually as you reach each step in the digital transformation process.
• As a member of the core transformation team, designate a cybersecurity expert who will coordinate cybersecurity efforts across all transformation activities.