Corporate governance encompasses all the rules, structures and processes by which a company is managed. The aim of corporate governance is to ensure that legal, ethical and organizational regulations are complied with, and that transparency, control and accountability towards customers, employees and suppliers prevail in the management of the company.
Corporate governance and the implementation of an IT security strategy are closely linked. In risk management in particular, cyber risks should be included as an integral part of an organization's risk assessment.
This is the only way to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities and implement countermeasures in the security strategy. The primary objective is to protect the confidentiality, availability and integrity of all company data and IT systems. If, for example, data is encrypted and stolen by a ransomware attack or IT systems are sabotaged by exploiting zero-day gaps, this could inevitably lead to a complete shutdown of operations. Conversely, this leads to loss of sales, non-compliance with the supply chain and loss of reputation. In the worst-case scenario, the damage could be so severe that business operations cannot continue. It can take up to 280 days to remove all fragments of a cyberattack and restore normal business operations, if at all possible. Companies can quickly slide into insolvency as a result of a cyberattack. Employees lose their jobs.
This illustrates how important it is for management to incorporate IT security into corporate governance. In particular, the management is essentially responsible for ensuring that regulatory requirements, laws (such as GDPR, GmbHG) or supplier conditions (such as TISAX) are complied with. Failure to comply with this obligation can make the management personally liable under certain circumstances.
To avert this worst-case scenario, it is advisable to integrate appropriate risk mitigation measures into the IT infrastructure. The integration of patch management is essential in order to close security gaps as quickly as possible. It is also essential to collect and analyze log files. This is the only way to detect data leaks at an early stage, reconstruct the attack and remove all fragments of the malware. Disaster recovery plans must be developed to ensure business continuity in the event of damage. Redundant servers and proactive monitoring using intrusion detection systems should be integrated.
