Cybersecurity is the issue of the decade: IBM SVP

Cybersecurity used to be a topic brought up occasionally in leadership meetings, now it is at the forefront of everything and according to Ric Lewis, SVP IBM Infrastructure it will be the issue of this next decade.

Lewis spoke at Think Sydney 2022 discussing the importance of cybersecurity in today’s world.

He said, “[Cybersecurity] is going to be that thing that we're all talking about, that we're all proposing solutions and evolving our technology and consulting practices. We will really be focused on cybersecurity, its a big deal.”

While cybersecurity is high on the agenda, organisations are not up to speed with the right tools and technologies to combat bad actors.

Lewis told attendees that it takes 280 days to detect and contain a cybersecurity issue.

“That is two thirds of the year, we just talked about how important speed is, that's not very fast. So you can see, there's just a tonne of opportunity in this area. For us, as a partner, as well as for clients to be able to improve in the area of cybersecurity, it's something we're very excited about,” he explained.

AI within cybersecurity can be a force multiplier, according to Lewis.

“If you take one person that's in your security office who's working, if you have AI deployed, we see that one person becomes the effective 60 people. You do the math on how big your security department is, and how much of the multiplier you can get on that. his is very powerful and it's critical,” he added.

Lewis said there's no other way to deal with the explosion of data and the explosion of threats inside the market today.

“With hybrid cloud, and AR, we're really seeing a major shift in technology. It is really about technology coming to the forefront of the business world rather than being the back-office cost optimised.

“That has to do with the issues that were mentioned right up front, sustainability, cybersecurity, supply chain issues, demographic shifts, talent shortages, and even geopolitical instability. All of these things, it's a changing environment, you got to be able to surf that wave and be on top of it,” he said.