Cyber-security a growing concern for NZ IT leaders

Cyber-security a growing concern for NZ IT leaders

Research reveals cyber-security biggest concern and most relevant aspect of digital for New Zealand IT leaders in 2017.

Auckland, 6 June 2017.

According to the 2017 Digital Readiness report, Building strong digital foundations, New Zealand IT leaders see digital as posing a significant risk to their organisations and getting cyber-security right, as part of a broader quality assurance strategy, is the key to building a successful digital foundation.

The ‘WannaCry’ malware recently caused havoc around the world, targeting thousands of computers by encrypting data and demanding ransom from victims.

Reportedly popping up in Auckland and Wellington recently, the malware has brought cyber-security front-of-mind for New Zealand organisations as breaches and system failures cost companies thousands of dollars every year, and of all the funds lost due to cyber-attacks, 68% is declared unrecoverable (Heimdal Security). So, it is no surprise that the Digital Readiness report found that cyber-security is more relevant to their organisations now than it was 12 months ago.

“New Zealand organisations are gearing up and getting on board with the digital concept, integrating digital into their core business and adopting underlying trends,” explains Reg Prasad, Head of Consulting for Qual IT.

“While this is a fundamental shift which ensures our nation is up to play with the rest of the world, a strategic and measured, safety first, quality approach to implementing digital initiatives needs to be taken,” says Prasad.

By ensuring a thorough quality strategy is in place before implementing digital initiatives, companies have assurance that their initiatives will be secure and can perform at their best.

Best practice indicates that regression coverage, end-to-end testing and performance testing all need to be included within a quality strategy to ensure cyber-security risks (as well as other digital concepts) are mitigated, or at least lessened.

Conducted by IT quality assurance firm Qual IT, the Digital Readiness Study drew data from 60 of some of New Zealand’s largest organisations and presents some key recommendations and best practices to follow to mitigate the potential risks posed by digital.

Copies of the report are available from www.qualit.co.nz .

*Scroll down for a full summary of survey results*

SUMMARY OF 2017 SURVEY RESULTS

Survey participants

• • 60 New Zealand organisations with the majority having 300 employees or more.

• • 22% of respondents were C-level and 27% were IT leaders.

Digital trends

• • 39% viewed digital as being highly relevant to their organisation (10 on a 1-10 scale). The majority (78%) viewed digital as relevant or highly relevant (8 or more on a 1-10 scale).

• • 42% cited they have a documented digital strategy in their organisation.

• • 46% cited they have specific digital job titles in their organisation.

Digital issues

• • Cyber-security – 56% rated this as highly relevant (10 on a 1-10 scale) and 12% rated this as being fully embedded in the organisation (10 on a 1-10 scale).

• • Mobile platforms – 36% rated this as highly relevant (10 on a 1-10 scale) and 12% rated this as being fully embedded in the organisation (10 on a 1-10 scale).

• • Cloud computing – 24% rated this as highly relevant (10 on a 1-10 scale) and 20% rated this as being fully embedded in the organisation (10 on a 1-10 scale).

• • Big data – 20% rated this as highly relevant (10 on a 1-10 scale) and 6% rated this as being fully embedded in the organisation (10 on a 1-10 scale).

• • Social technology – 18% rated this as highly relevant (10 on a 1-10 scale) and 4% rated this as being fully embedded in the organisation (10 on a 1-10 scale).

What opportunities are there to better leverage digital for their organisation?

1. Take a safety-first approach to integrating digital trends into the organisation to ensure their success.

2. Incorporate security assessments and testing into the overall quality strategy.

3. Identify the right quality coverage mix across the different web and mobile experiences and add to the overall quality strategy.

4. Ensure cloud based testing is part of the quality strategy to support the digital transformation journey.

5. Consideration needs to be given to how data tests are categorised and used as part of your digital roadmap.

6. To ensure your applications are robust, a strong QA strategy that caters to performance and end-to-end testing is required.

About Qual IT

Qual IT are independent software quality assurance specialists with offices in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch. They provide a range of services to large New Zealand companies in the software quality assurance and testing spaces.

www.qualit.co.nz

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