Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity: Anescalating humancapital concern.

By: LTG. (ret) William C. Mayville

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I retired from the United States Cyber Command in the spring of 2018 after 36 years of military service. Mycareer began with the geopolitical conflicts of the Cold War and concluded with new forms of battle incyberspace. My perspectives on leadership and conflict, however, were forged in the two decadesfollowing 9/11, commanding and leading troops in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I learned from those experiences that conflict, no matter how sophisticated it is waged, remains a humanenterprise. The image of modern armored vehicles destroyed by fertilizer bombs and garage door remotecontrols taught me that while technology can enable, it will never be master.

So how did we combat this foe effectively? We had to redesign the way we fought – not just thetechnology we were using. We re-trained and re-developed our leaders. We did not change our ethos, butinstead, we made massive changes to our culture. We developed soldiers to think for themselves andleaders were taught to be adaptive, to innovate, to promote teamwork, and be culturally attuned to theirenvironment. We rewarded risk-taking and agility as well as accountability and mission accomplishment.We built learning organizations and broke our formations into smaller, more effective cross-functionalteams. And we empowered those teams to operate autonomously.

Today, the logic of cyber technology is clearly enabling new forms of economic and political power thatare both costly and destructive. However, I believe that the challenge is less a threat of technology thanour inability to exercise effective leadership in this man-made domain.

We are better informed about the consequences ofcybersecurity today than we were four years ago,but businesses continue to be victimized by amultitude of cyber-attacks resulting in significantfinancial losses, the disruption of businessoperations, and the erosion of customer trust. 95% ofcybersecurity breaches are due to human error. Ahacker attacks every 39 seconds, and yet less than40% of global business organizations claim they areready for a cyber-attack. Cybersecurity is aleadership problem—not just a technology problem.Remedying it requires a commitment from the top,with leaders demonstrating ownership of, and a planto fix, the problem.

It is the tone at the top—more than procurement oftechnology tools—that brings about theorganizational transformation required to remain competitive in cyberspace.

"It is the tone at the top—more than procurement oftechnology tools—thatbrings about theorganizationaltransformation required toremain competitive incyberspace."

Cybersecurity

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About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is a global organizationalconsulting firm. We help clientssynchronize strategy and talent to drivesuperior performance. We work withorganizations to design their structures,roles, and responsibilities. We help themhire the right people to bring theirstrategy to life. And we advise them onhow to reward, develop, and motivatetheir people.

Bolt-on technology solutions are not a winning strategy without a systemic approach that includestraining of the workforce, leader technical development, soft-skills training for technologists, and anorganizational ethos that expects individual responsibility and accountability.

This is the journey I believe organizations need to go on, as they confront a new array of risks (both cyberand otherwise). Of course, technological innovation offers competitive advantages, and certainly solutionslike artificial intelligence will drive more effective risk management in the cyber realm and beyond. But,these capabilities must be part of a holistic ecosystem that includes changes to business practices andoperating principals.

And the culture, structure, and leadership changes needed must fuel both risk management andinnovation. After all, innovations in technology move faster than most organizations can absorb them. As aresult, jobs are transforming and emerging, and new types of leaders and subcultures are springing up.The very expectations of the workforce are changing, and the simplest decision-making becomes quitecomplicated.

Accordingly, organizations need a purposeful, strategic vision to elevate organizational values andestablish rules for organizational behavior. Leaders must understand the importance of gettingorganizational culture right, and they must actively manage the intersection of technology and talent – notrelying too heavily on technology to solve problems that only humans can.

When I joined the Cyber Command team, I found myself in rooms filled with people who knewexponentially more about technology than I did. To be an effective leader, I had to listen acutely, readvoraciously, and constantly open myself up to the input and experience of my technologist colleagues.And in turn, I had to set the tone that technology alone wouldn’t provide the answers – that we had tothink and do differently to combat an array of new foes.

Cyber is the new workspace where people and strategies intersect with global networks and technology.The organizations who think, and do differently, will win far beyond their competitors.

Bill Mayville

LTG. (ret) William C. Mayville

Senior Advisor

Korn Ferry