Conference Board says ‘translation gap’ is compromising cyber security
Posted June 8, 2016 8:07 am.
Last Updated June 8, 2016 9:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As cyber criminals continue to find creative ways to compromise your privacy, the Conference Board of Canada is pointing out there is a critical gap in security for many companies in this country and it has nothing to do with technology.
“One of the big issues we hear constantly from senior people in cyber security is what we call the ‘translation gap,'” says Satyamoorthy Kabilan, the Board’s Director of National Security and Strategic Foresight.
“We are very good at having people at the front lines of cyber security understanding the technical issues, risks and threats and being able to work with those. But when they assess that and take it up to their boards or senior management teams — who may not be deep, technical cyber security experts — the detail gets lost in translation sometimes.”
Kabilan says it’s not always easy to convert pure technical speak into easily understood, strategic level insights that are useful to decision-makers.
“That gap is something we aim to help with,” he tells NEWS 1130.
The Conference Board of Canada has created a new research centre for cybersecurity issues and its first work is focused on getting decision-makers to create better policy to protect data and personal information.
“The issues are challenging but we are trying to build a bridge so the technical level can work its way up to the strategic level in an easily understood manner,” says Kabilan, who suggests a disconnect can leave consumers’ personal information more vulnerable to breaches.
“If there isn’t a good understanding, then there is a real risk that the entire spectrum of cyber security is not quite as well understood and therefore not quite as well protected. The challenge is bridging that.”
