How Asia’s businesses can mitigate employee cybersecurity & data security risks with best practices 

Technology disrupts the way we work by creating new jobs, delivery channels, products, and ways of working. At the same time, it also tests every organization’s governance and their employees’ ability to manage misinformation and other cybersecurity threats.

According to the Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) People Risk 2024  survey of risk managers in Asia, three of their top 10 risk concerns relate to technological change and disruption:

• Tech skills shortages: A shortage of skilled workers in tech fields hampers technology development, implementation, and management, which lowers competitiveness.
• Mishandling of data/IP: Failure to properly handle, store, and protect sensitive data leads to data breaches, reputational damage, and loss of trust.
• Lack of cybersecurity knowledge: Limited cybersecurity knowledge across organisations increases the risk of cyberattacks (e.g. ransomware), business interruption and financial loss.

Amidst this backdrop, risk managers need to work closely with their human resource (HR) counterparts to adopt measures to improve cyber resilience, starting with employees’ preparedness against cybersecurity and data security risks.

MMB’s People Risk Report  prescribes three proven ways to guide risk managers on enhancing employee cybersecurity and data security resilience within organizations:

• Adopting an enterprise-wide approach to technology by empowering employees with the knowledge to become guardians of organizational assets.
• Cultivating a digital-first culture and ensure the adoption of digital solutions aids in productivity by actively collecting feedback from employees.
• Improve talent attraction for the tech workforce by identifying the skills gaps and establishing a plan to upskill and reskill the workforce to harness productivity-enhancing tools (e.g. artificial intelligence) and other tech accelerations.