Introduction
Cyber security/vulnerability and immigration are some of the aspects that have raised concern in the recent past and significantly affect the ability of organizations in meeting their set objectives and goals. The current global setting has made our global economy highly sensitive to information as any form of security failing that, may result in a long-term expense to the business. The situation will negatively affect consumer trust as well as spoil the overall reputation of the organizational brand. Some of the aspects influenced by the cyber threat and immigration challenges include management of sensitive consumer information and the use of corporate intellectual property among other critical issues. Therefore, a business organization that invests in information technology as an approach to curb insecurity enables organizations to be in a position to manage the challenge (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012).
Cyber security as a vital element that should be addressed by business organizations, especially by the executive board as it has a great impact on business performance. Hence, the traditional approach used by the group to curb the menace is not adequate for the development of firewalls and anti-virus are embraced (Fugini et al., 2016). Therefore, it is imperative to appreciate that a better approach should be employed that guarantees the management of efficient organizational structure among other critical issues.
Protecting reputation
Management control as used in the above study refers to the different approaches through which business organizations can manage their respective mandates. Therefore, it is important to appreciate that there is a need for an efficient information system that will guarantee success in the operation of any single business. Moreover, management of the different intellectual property owned by the business and other confidential matters offer a business organization a competitive advantage over other companies of its kind in the market, an aspect that upholds the firm reputation. Therefore, it is worth noting that information has a significant impact on an organization; hence, its use should be carried out in the most efficient way that protects its users from intruders (Shin et al., 2015).
Impact of compromising information
Compromising information in any particular organization has a negative impact that may lead to long-term loss to the business management, and staff or an outsider can commit the action. Moreover, any attack on organizational information has a severe impact as far as the financial performance of the business is concerned and the general reputation of the company. Furthermore, it can lead to physical loss of the material property of the organization, leading to a reduced production capacity of the business, loss of the intellectual property and destruction of the enterprise reputation among other significant impacts. Therefore, the realization of the above cases will adversely affect the organization competitive advantage in the market; lead to a reduction in returns, defamation, among other increased expenses (Ferdinand, 2015).
As mentioned earlier, various losses are linked from the influence of information, hence, will hinder the success of organizations whatsoever. The executive team of any business requires having a precise information management procedure to guarantee the success of the organization. This action will ensure that the information possessed by a single organization is protected from any form of security vulnerability whatsoever.
Different actors commit cyber safety in the market, an aspect that influences the performance of any organization. The first group of people related to the cyber insecurity and often experienced in our organizations includes the cyber criminals who involve themselves in fraud cases so as to sell the valuable information for money. However, other competitors in the international market that desire to enhance their economic growth are also involved in the stealing of intellectual property of big organization using the cyber threat. Cyber Security is committed to a broad range of people, including hackers who interrupt with the computer systems for fun, but have a significant impact on influencing the business performance. Another group of actors involved in the risky business includes the organizational staff who may either commit the crime knowingly or by mistake for their personal use.
As a measure, therefore, organizations need to be aware of the various threats facing the business and how they should respond to them in the most optimal way possible. It is for this reason that business organizations need to understand the different aspects that influence their information assets and the magnitude of its impact on the business.
For organizations to establish effective management control, they need to take into account the different cyber security risks at least to a suitable level. Every organization has the mandate to manage the various cyber security, subjected to it as part of its governance responsibility. Therefore, consistent communication amid the top leaders of an organization and the operational team helps understand effective approaches through which the plan can be met.
Moreover, embracing of an effective cyber security program helps control the different practices that are carried out in business to help protect the systems while at the same preventing any harm from the cyber threat. The concept offers business a competitive advantage over others as it allows for a timely response that helps in the prevention of any potential harm to the company. Although the compliance requirement is set in place to help ensure that the cyber threat is at a reasonable management level, it is imperative to note that the condition does not guarantee total organization security. Therefore, the risk-based approach is considered to be most effective when compared to the other strategies and will, therefore, allow for effective management control (Bartnes Line et al., 2016).
There are various issues in cyber security that have led to a need for compliance enforcement to manage the social safety of the stakeholders as well as the vulnerability issues. There are different threats associated with the concern that leads to vulnerabilities, which are in return used to evaluate the experienced damage. Therefore, it is worth noting that lack of adequate measures to account for vulnerabilities hinders organizations from succeeding in their respective goals and preventing further attacks. Organizations have thus been forced to embrace effective strategies to counter the threats imposed by cyber security in establishing effective management control system.
Lack of adequate information, techniques has led to social insecurity, as it is often difficult to control immigration trends as there is inconsistent storage of data. Moreover, the issue of cyber insecurity has led to increased cases of immigration in different parts of the world as criminals can devise false documents. Some of the questions that have resulted from the same are increased cases of terror attacks leading to social insecurity in different parts of the world and sudden influx in population density. Therefore, governments need to have an active control system put in place to manage the situation so as to prevent future cases of insecurity and allow for proper management of the organization.
Managing cyber risks
Different approaches are used to meet the above condition, and the first step that is always considered by the Directorate is to note the critical assets of a business and the different cyber threats associated with the same. The evaluation helps the company to understand the various risks that the organization is exposed to as far as cyber security is concerned. Some of the impacts that often result from the cyber threat as mentioned earlier include; financial problems resulting in losses to business; damage to an organizational reputation; regulatory issues and other significant facts influencing competitive advantage. Therefore, the assessment stands out as the best measure through which the identification and prioritization of concrete steps are considered together with the efficient allocation of resources. Organizations, therefore, need to invest in the long-term projects and develop effective policies that will bring cyber risk management to a reasonable level (Windelberg, 2016).
Irrespective of the size and nature of an organization, in the current global setting, every business is subject to cyber threat despite the different protection measures put in place. It is for this reason that an organization needs to set effective strategies on how to respond once their network defenses have been attacked. This initiative can be achieved through a regular practice of an incident response plan to allow efficient response in the future of the organization. Furthermore, a quick response to cyber threat has a lot of benefits to business groups as it limits any damage to the organization whatsoever. The response planning should involve different stakeholders from the organization such as the top leaders, system operators among other key people in the business. A recovery procedure should thus be put in place and the different plans on how the business can adequately meet its set objectives in the market (Hu et al., 2016).
However, the situational analysis is considered as an efficient method through which organizations involve itself in the timely detection of possible detection of the associated cyber risks and vulnerability. Therefore, the situation is analyzed, and an evaluation of the same is done utilizing data from various sources and through the efficient sharing of information, organizations can identify and respond to the different threats set in place.
The managing board of an organization has the full mandate to protect its respective corporate from any form of security harm whatsoever, and failing to do so can subject the board to a legal action against it. Directors of organizations are thus held responsible for reviewing adequate security measures against cyber attack and doing an analysis of the different forms of risks that the business is exposed to besides devising ways on how the same can be managed. Moreover, to handle the situation, organizations need to make adequate disclosures of the loss incurred as a result of the cyber attack and the associated costs of managing the situation. Security experts, therefore, have contributed to the move by suggesting effective practices and standards to be maintained to guarantee organizations active security measures against the breach (Cherdantseva et al., 2016).
Some of the adverse effects of the cyber attack include the fact that it exposes the business to both financial and reputational damages, an aspect that influences even the lower level employees as it results in increased costs for the company and a reduction in returns. The action can harm a competitive business advantage in the market as it incapacitates the organization's ability to innovativeness or gaining access to new consumers.
Different steps are considered for protecting information breach in business organization and include the following; the initial step in the process is efficient management of information risks by pointing out the different security threats and identification of the respective policies to manage the same. Organizations have the mandate to protect their information as well as adopting appropriate communication strategies that meet the security standards set in place.
Malware protection is another factor to appreciate, as this vice can lead to significant losses to an organization as it corrupts available data for use. The various networks that are used by business firms should consider adhering to network design principles that uphold the security standards set in place. The organizational staff using the different accounts of the company should be limited, and very few individuals should only access the administrative database. Moreover, the various user activities should be regularly monitored and consider changing of account passwords or deleting none existing accounts (Wolden et al., 2015).
The organization should further consider taking strict measures on the different vendors attached to the organization as such individuals are also identified as part of the actors that facilitate data breach. The organization should make the security policies as part of their employment terms so as to commit every employee in an organization to account for their actions and uphold transparency. Moreover, scanning of the inbound and outbound traffic should be done on a continuous basis to prevent any form of suspicion whatsoever.
Shin et al., (2015) asserts that almost 90% of the corporate organizations in the current generation have no proper measures set in place to curb cyber security. Apparently, it is evident from past research study that cyber attacks cost the global economy an enormous amount of cash with over $400 million every year and in the US alone, over three thousand companies experienced cyber attacks in 2013 (Shin et al., 2015). Apparently, some of the major organizations that often experience cyber threat includes the key groups in the country, leading to significant loss of consumer and credit information. However, some of the other incidents of cyber security that have been reported include the theft of the governmental funds or compromising the different company system leading to huge losses to the respective companies. However, various governments and corporations across the globe are in search of practical approaches on how they can defend themselves as far as cyber security is concerned.
Consequences of cyber security
Two categories of cyber attacks exist, and they include breach of security data associated with the organization and sabotage. However, breach or organizational data include interference with aspects of the intellectual property, revealing of trade secrets through fraud, access to consumer information without official permission among other risks. On the other hand, sabotage includes the attack that is often directed to service, for example, sending of bogus messages to people or efforts by the cyber criminals to disable organizational systems among other significant issues (Knowles et al., 2016).
Cyber attacks result in several losses in organizations that disrupt their routine operations, an aspect that impairs the management control system of an organization (Dutta, Lawson, & Marcinko, 2016). However, despite the enormous losses incurred by organizations over the decades as a result of the cyber attack, it is imperative to appreciate that only a few crimes are reported or give adequate detail on the damage that is experienced. Moreover, most of the cyber crime incidents go undetected for years, especially in the industrial fraud of accessing company confidential information. In the case of undetected security breach, companies are disadvantaged while working in the market as their reputation is damaged and the fact that competitors gain access to their sensitive information and use it against the business. To manage the situation, it is important to appreciate the fact that there should be an effective global approach as criminals operate on an international basis.
Although there are various efforts by governments and cyber security experts to curb the menace in the global setting, it is important to note that the trend is on the increase. Hence, with a rise in IT innovation, there are more online dangers that organizations are exposed to leading to cyber attacks. An example in place is the current use of cloud computing, an efficient strategy for sharing an enormous amount of organizational data with third parties has led to increased incidents of cyber attack. Moreover, many multinational organizations like the financial institutions are introducing the use of mobile services to increase their operational margin, an aspect that has resulted in more opportunities for the criminals to breach the different security measures set in place (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012).
However, most of the organizations have not prioritized the effort to protect the various applications that are used by business firms to store big data, an aspect that contributes to increasing cases of cyber attacks. Moreover, the increased use of the internet to enhance the flow of information between the parties also attracts the hackers to gain access to the sensitive information of organizations.
Legal aspects of cyber risk
Different governments across the globe as aforementioned have enforced a range of laws that will help cut down the rate of cyber security. Apparently, it is a prerequisite that organizations should report any form of breach so as to enable the different agencies involved to help reinforce security. This approach is among the primary initiatives that will contribute to a reduction in the harm subjected to organizations. Moreover, there are various global organizations with the mandate of enforcing policies to help curb the cyber attack and allow for efficient management of the various control systems that business organizations use. Some of the measures considered include subjecting fines and other legal actions to the different parties involved. The plan, therefore, helps in sinking the several risks regarding financial losses and defamation so as to encourage compliance with the different legal requirements of the world (Barton et al., 2016).
Conclusion
It is imperative to appreciate that cyber security/vulnerability and immigration are critical issues that have attracted a global concern as they contribute to a broad range of questions. Most of the cyber criminals target the computer networks, considering the increased use of the internet. The trend has increased in the recent past, and this aspect requires effective measures to help manage the situation. However, one of the ideas that come out of the above paper is that with proper preparation by the government agents and cyber security agents, it is possible to manage the situation. Cyber attacks have adverse effects on organizational management, and some of the impacts realized include financial losses and defamation. However, policies have been set in place to help manage the situation and legal actions taken against concerned parties. Moreover, failure to maintain the immigration control systems in any country may result in adverse effects such as increased terror attacks among other significant issues.
Besides, it is evident from the study that there is a need for different organizations involved to give a precise report on the damage and various threats experienced. It is also important, noting that the cyber threat is not just a government responsibility, but the responsibility of the respective management teams of an organization, more so the directors. Investing in security measures to curb the menace will be vital to business as it offers, the business organization a competitive advantage through protection of the company finance and reputation. Therefore, we can conclude that managing the cyber security issues that are experienced in the different parts of the world will contribute towards meeting effective management control systems for organizations.
References
Bartnes Line, M., Anne Tøndel, I., & Jaatun, M. G. (2016). Current practices and challenges in industrial control organizations regarding information security incident management – does size matter? Information security incident management in large and small industrial control organizations. International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 12, 12–26.
Barton, K. A., Tejay, G., Lane, M., & Terrell, S. (2016). Information system security commitment: A study of external influences on senior management. Computers & Security, 59, 9–25.
Cherdantseva, Y., Burnap, P., Blyth, A., Eden, P., Jones, K., Soulsby, H., & Stoddart, K. (2016). A review of cyber security risk assessment methods for SCADA systems. Computers & Security, 56, 1–27.
Dutta, S. K., Lawson, R. A., & Marcinko, D. J. (2016). A management control system to support corporate sustainability strategies. Advances in Accounting.
Ferdinand, J. (2015). Building organisational cyber resilience: A strategic knowledge-based view of cyber security management. Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 9(2), 185-195.
Fugini, M., Teimourikia, M., & Hadjichristofi, G. (2016). A web-based cooperative tool for risk management with adaptive security. Future Generation Computer Systems, 54, 409-422.
Hu, F., Lu, Y., Vasilakos, A. V., Hao, Q., Ma, R., Patil, Y., Xiong, N. N. (2016). Robust Cyber–Physical Systems: Concept, models, and implementation. Future Generation Computer Systems, 56, 449-475.
Knowles, W., Prince, D., Hutchison, D., Disso, J. F., & Jones, K. (2015). A survey of cyber security management in industrial control systems. International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 9, 52-80.
Merchant, K. A., & Van S. (2012). Management control systems: Performance measurement, evaluation and incentives. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Shin, J., Son, H., Khalil ur, R., & Heo, G. (2015). Development of a cyber security risk model using Bayesian networks. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 134, 208-217.
Windelberg, M. (2016). Objectives for managing cyber supply chain risk. International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 12, 4-11.
Wolden, M., Valverde, R., & Talla, M. (2015). The effectiveness of COBIT 5 Information Security Framework for reducing Cyber Attacks on Supply Chain Management System. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 48(3), 1846-1852.