Vanguard Magazine

4. Build resilience for any scenario The reality is, a cyber attack is much more likely than ever before, as 2020 brought a surge in intrusions, ransomware and data breaches, along with an increase in phish- ing attempts. In the survey, Canadian executives were asked to weigh in on the likelihood of cyber threats in the coming year. When looking at possible threat actors, Canadian respondents feel attacks by cybercriminals, insiders and nation states are most likely. In terms of cyber events, Canadian re- spondents feel cyber attacks on cloud ser- vices, ransomware breaches and supply chain attacks on critical business services are most likely. How do respondents plan to prepare? A significant majority (78 per cent) of Ca- nadian executives (76 per cent globally) agree with the statement, "Assessments and testing—done right—will help in tar- geted investments in cybersecurity." So, it makes sense that 57 per cent of Canadian executives (40 per cent globally) plan to increase resilience testing to make sure, if a disruptive cyber event happens, their critical business functions will stay up and running. business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, safety, privacy and fraud, all of which are typically separate functions. 5. Future-proof your security team In the next year, 42 per cent of Canadian respondents plan to add full-time cyberse- curity personnel to their organization. But this won't necessarily be easy, and many recognize the challenges in attracting and retaining good cyber talent. So, it's not surprising that an overwhelming majority (94 per cent) of Canadian respondents (93 per cent globally), including defence and security industries, use or plan to use man- aged services. Canadian executives are looking for future leaders with stronger soft skills to enable better partnership with IT and the business. Three of the five most-men- tioned attributes among Canadian respon- dents to the survey were soft skills: critical thinking (49 per cent), communication (44 per cent) and creativity (43 per cent). When we look at technical skills, the highest number of Canadian respondents (44 per cent) want their new hires to know about cloud solutions. Tied for second in demand are specialization in particular new tech solutions (for example, AI, IoT and blockchain) and security intelligence experience (40 per cent). Which of the following technical skills are you looking for in your new hires in the next 12 months? CYBER 34 JUNE/JULY 2021 www.vanguardcanada.com The key takeaways for the defence and security industries • Perform regular assessments and testing to identify weaknesses in your cyber pos- ture before attackers do. • Implement a cyber hygiene program to remediate weaknesses often exploited by attackers. • Focus on enterprise-wide digital trust by orchestrating resiliency efforts across The reality is, a cyber attack is much more likely than ever before, as 2020 brought a surge in intrusions, ransomware and data breaches, along with an increase in phishing attempts.

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