Ocyan

Digital transformation was essential for organizations to adapt to the new moment and the post-Covid-19 pandemic. Never before have they depended so much on technologies such as cloud, mobile and the Internet of Things. Corporations around the world are facing enormous challenges in their markets today. In Latin America, it is no different; many of them have had to transform their businesses with the help of new digital technologies.

Financially, the Latin American cybersecurity market was valued at US$5.73 billion in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR* of 11.8% during the forecast period (2022-2027), according to the released report by Mordor Intelligence. Still, regarding the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an expectation that companies worldwide must proactively respond to cyber threats that have increased during the pandemic period. Because of this, cyber resilience, which refers to the ability of an industry or institution to respond, prepare for and recover from cyberattacks, has become an absolute necessity rather than an option in the current scenario.

*CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is the rate of return required for an investment to grow from its opening balance to its ending balance.

Trends

As the main trend during and after the pandemic, many businesses kept the remote work model or even a hybrid work model (when employees work on-site for part of the week and work from home for part of the week).

Many remote workers believe that being closer to their families gives them a huge gain in quality of life, associated with a boost in productivity. Besides, they can foster a healthier lifestyle and no longer have to deal with the frustrations of driving to and from work.

On the other hand, it is important to reconcile work time with social life, avoiding excesses, since we can also highlight many cases of burnout syndrome. According to research by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA), professional burnout syndrome already affects 30% of Brazilian workers, representing about 28 million people. As for the IT area, it is believed that it has been one where the impact is even stronger. Unfortunately, from the legal point of view, Latin American countries still need more specific legislation for this type of work.

Regardless of the work model adopted, the discussion goes beyond the public health issue due to the pandemic, but there is also a generational factor that companies have to take into account: offering the option of working from home is a requirement of a new generation that is entering the job market, and this becomes a differential in retaining and hiring talents. What was once a benefit has now become an expectation.

“Solid security awareness campaigns with webinars, phishing simulations, communication and mandatory training for the entire organization, from third parties to c-level, are increasingly vital”

To allow this work model to become effective, the market has consolidated the use of numerous collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and Zoom, among others. However, by adopting these tools without using auxiliary or misconfigured technologies, companies are open to gaps and even exposure of their information. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), more than half of Latin American corporations have breached or failed security audits in the past two years.

Another factor to consider is the growing propensity towards digitization and the adoption of connected solutions as part of their operations. Consequently, cybersecurity incidents in the region are rapidly increasing. Countries like Brazil, Colombia and Mexico are at the forefront of increasing the security budget for the coming years. According to a study by CyberEdge, these countries are expected to be at the top regarding an increase in the security budget around the world.

Another trend that has intensified is related to the concepts of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). On the one hand, many organizations are concerned with protecting remote access to applications and specific identities based on granular and defined access control policies. On the other hand, major players in the market are offering their solutions and enumerating advantages such as reducing the attack surface, minimizing cyber risk, improving scalability and others.

Challenges

Latin American markets are the most vulnerable to hacks and breaches because they still face cybersecurity challenges. In the current scenario, Latin America needs a solid cybersecurity foundation to protect its business's future.

For example, the implementation of DLP (Data Loss Prevention) solutions corroborates the use of these collaboration tools. However, many Latin American offices still need to gain such technology, and their data is shared without any verification and proper classification of their information.

Also, it's important to raise the maturity level of companies by implementing market frameworks such as NIST and CIS and using the ISO 27000 set of standards. We must still consider that many of them have an OT environment where, in some cases, it is not given its due importance, being handled reactively, thus making it a potential vector for increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

Solid security awareness campaigns with webinars, phishing simulations, communication and mandatory training for the entire organization, from third parties to C-Level, are increasingly vital. The advent of the pandemic has been a potential booster for many companies, which have introduced specific training aimed at people working from home. In Brazil alone, numerous companies (and here I can mention the energy sector, of which I have more than eight years of experience) had their systems and infrastructure compromised by phishing attacks.

Another challenge the Latin American market faces is the need for qualified professionals: We have the same problem in other regions of the world. In Brazil, there are numerous vacancies, but there is a shortage of skilled labor. Furthermore, cybersecurity demands a high level of knowledge to keep constantly updated, often reconciling with the stress of everyday life.

Moreover, the IT area teams are gradually leaner, with a manager in addition to one or two analysts, which generates high workloads, sometimes within large and complex environments, such as the energy sector. It is a factor discouraging many professionals from pursuing a security career.

At last, when it comes to use tools and technologies properly, it is important to have a scope and well-defined metrics before their implementation. Employability and settings must align with what the business/IT wants to monitor. An example has a SIEM capturing all and any logs containing an infinity of data, but there is a lack of resources to analyze them. In this case, they are not taking advantage of the tool's potential.

Although in Latin America, a good portion of corporations lags behind other regions in digital transformation, what appears to be a problem offers them an opportunity to advance in this process and even manage to disrupt the markets where they are located.