Intelligent SME.tech Issue 27 | Page 30

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// FEATURE //

Nicky Tozer , Senior Vice President of EMEA , NetSuite their Digital Transformation journey that was accelerated because of the pandemic .
Focus on prevention in 2023
Next year will undoubtedly bring with it an array of challenges for SMEs when it comes to cybersecurity , but businesses should be comforted by the fact that by taking a preventative approach , it is possible to prepare and secure their networks from new and emerging threats .
Nicky Tozer , Senior Vice President of EMEA , NetSuite :
The last few years have taught us that ‘ uncertainty ’ has become a consistent business backdrop , and 2022 was no different – to the extent that ‘ permacrisis ’ has been declared the UK ’ s word of the year .
These years have demonstrated the need to stay flexible and adapt to any scenario , however severe , and this need for agility looks set to be a key theme in 2023 .
As uncertainty continues into 2023 , businesses should focus on making their digital infrastructure more robust to protect against risk . For instance , when considering their supply chain , businesses have been forced to react quickly to continual product shortages , delivery strikes and port delays , that show no signs of slowing down . This is just one example where businesses have had to make rapid moves to stay afloat , moving from just-in-time towards a ‘ more stock , less deliveries ’ model , trying to balance out associated costs of storage and management .
In 2023 , automation will also be a vital investment for finance teams , not only to do more with less people , but to give professionals more time for value-add projects . Centralising data and automating financial processes mitigates risk , makes data more accurate , and allows finance teams to focus on analysis and respond to market changes .
Paul Baird , UK Chief Technology Security Officer , Qualys :
While the region ’ s security professionals played the usual parallel game of catch-up to the threat actors ’ rapid evolution , changes to their own IT environments have tied Security Operations Centres ’ hands more than usual . They no longer protect simple , on premises environments . The cloud , third-party services , shadow IT and more plague cybersecurity professionals to an alarming degree .
And now , it ’ s time to see what happens next . Here are three predictions for 2023 that every CISO should digest .

1

More accountability for CISOs
CISOs ’ repeated calls for more investment in security will finally be heard and the role will be granted more autonomy , but at a price . Organisations will expect their security leaders to justify expenditure , action , strategy , policy , KPIs and more .

2

Machine Learning will combat alert fatigue and SOC burnout
Threat actors automate and have become more effective because of it , but the security professionals tasked with stopping them are complaining that they do not have the tools to do so . Basic endpoint detection and response ( EDR ) is insufficient to dial down the
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