WINNING ENTRY – NICOLE DARABIAN

Cybersecurity on the Edge?

As often encountered in life, we are faced with a trade-off: on the one hand the opportunities afforded from communications networks, services and end-user devices are seemingly endless, but on the other hand, our reliance on them has proven to be an attractive target for cyber criminals to cause disruption. The risk becomes greater when the technology falls short on cybersecurity. This essay recognises there are no silver bullets preventing all cyber-attacks and data breaches, but it looks at the various means to minimise the risks of exposure to them. I argue that governments are taking proactive steps in establishing what good cybersecurity practices should look like, and industry has more incentives than ever to ensure cybersecurity is not neglected. However, security is only as strong as the weakest link, so fostering a shared sense of responsibility to act on cybersecurity, both at the individual and organisational level, are paramount.