Your IT Investments May Not Be Keeping You Safe

Category

Cybersecurity Fundamentals

Risk Level

Our motto is “Cybersecurity that’s approachable.” - that’s what it says right on the front page of our website. We talk about cybersecurity here on the ACT all the time, but is that the same as “IT security,” “IT risk management,” “information security,” or even “cyber security”?

Let’s back up first

You may work for an organization who has an IT department, or maybe just a contracted company who comes in every so often to “do IT” around the office. They may do things like install software, set up new computers, or help when there’s a problem; like the internet being down.

At a very high level, this is the role of IT in the workplace - to enable business processes to happen more efficiently and effectively. That means that IT’s role is to just make IT work. If your internet goes down, their job is to make it start working again. If you want a website set up to bring in new business, an IT person would help get the website up and running for you. In the physical world, this would be like asking Henry Ford in 1908 to build you a car. He would do a great job designing and building one that would just work.

But there’s a problem here: just working isn’t enough. As Henry Ford and many other car manufacturers soon discovered, their cars were causing deaths when they got into accidents. It wasn’t until 1950 and 1951 that seatbelts and airbags were introduced in cars. This focus on safety is what made cars more secure and viable for everyone.

This same change has happened in recent decades to the world of IT as we realized that “just working” wasn’t good enough. Hackers and scammers were taking advantage of the IT world and it was costing millions of dollars, stopping businesses in their tracks, and even causing deaths.

Enter cybersecurity

This is how cybersecurity came to be. While the world of IT continues to innovate and make business processes just work in the digital age, cybersecurity has stepped in to make sure they work securely. Unfortunately, the industry is still comparatively young and it has gone through a number of names over the years. Depending on where you work, your organization may have a “IT security,” “IT risk management,” “information security,” “cyber security,” “cyber risk,” or “cybersecurity” department. Or maybe your company calls it something else entirely!

The big takeaway: generally these are all synonyms for the same goal - protecting your information. So when we talk about “cybersecurity” here on the ACT, we’re using it to talk about all of these terms. And as for “cyber security” vs “cybersecurity,” that debate has been settled by Merriam-Webster.

So the next time you’re talking to your IT person or department, ask them how they're making sure you’re not only working, but that you’re working securely. If they don’t have an answer, you need our Vulnerability Assessment. We’ll help you understand where your IT has opportunities and help you start working safer.

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