Concern as cyber-crime becomes huge risk to business

CYBER-CRIME is fast becoming a huge risk to businesses hence the need to come up with innovative strategies to protect enterprises while embracing modern technology.

This emerged during the on-going Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe annual conference, which began here Monday.

A corporate governance expert, Ms Nobuhle Nkosi, who heads South African Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty said cyber-crime was the leading risk in business ahead of new technology and market developments.

“A research done recently showed that 42 percent of people regard cyber-crime as the highest risk followed by new technology and market developments. Criminals are becoming smarter hence regulations around the world are also becoming stringent,” said Ms Nkosi.

Speaking at the same platform, a renowned management consultant, Mr Joe Mutizwa, called for a paradigm shift and innovation-based survival strategies. Mr Mutizwa is the chief executive of JSM Strategic Pathways Africa and was guest of honour.

“We need to learn major lessons for managing business in a turbulent environment. We are looking at turbulence from a global perspective regardless of whether it’s driven by technological challenges or change in business model,” he said.

“Of note are seven risks that include convergence, where foreign companies are coming up with competition, the need for constant update of technology and software, which obviously needs money, how to make money despite challenges of digitisation and cyber security.”

Other risks include skills mismatch where graduates from universities lack the requisite skills needed in the industry.

Mr Mutizwa also challenged companies to introduce mechanisms for screening new employees saying Africa was lagging behind in terms of innovation hence it was difficult to manage the development gap.

“We need to re-examine how we are going to industrialise. To do this we need new paradigms to survive destruction in turbulent times. There are five paradigms that we should adopt namely: realising that the past is no longer a reliable predictor of the future, not be driven by threats but find opportunities in new areas, strengthen your balance sheets and creating the future you want,” said Mr Mutizwa.

He said it was the responsibility of every leader in any industry to adopt ‘these paradigms than to wait for government’s help.”

Government’s role is to guide at policy level but the primary liability lies with business leaders.

About 100 delegates from across the insurance sector are attending the three-day conference whose theme is “Visualise, exceed and explore.” — @ncubeleon