Green Technology is More Efficient But is More Vulnerable to Cyberattacks

A push to be “greener” is all around us; however, cybersecurity is being neglected as technologies, especially green technologies, advance. Green technology is an umbrella term that focuses on products and services that reduce waste, energy consumption, and negative effects on the environment. The goal of green technology is to protect the environment, repair past damage, and conserve the earth’s natural resources.

Our climate transformation encourages us all to adopt, implement, and use new green technologies at record speed. Most new green technologies are tied to the Internet in some way or another. While they are more efficient, they are also more vulnerable to attacks because of their connection to the Internet and rapid development that did not always take security into consideration. In addition, COVID‑19 distorted and decentralized the threat landscape adding even more fuel to the fire. In a recent survey by a major insurance company, 79% of respondents have experienced a significant increase in cyberthreats during the past two years.

Are you ready? Organizations must ask themselves the following two questions: When will an incident happen? How do we prevent an incident? Within your organization, it's important that you assess the risk that each technology—hardware and software in use at your organization as well as that of your key suppliers—brings to the table and have a plan to manage that risk. These days, many organizations are dependent on the Internet and supply chain availability in order to conduct business.

Companies Must Recognize that Cybersecurity is Not Just an IT Department Problem.

Companies also need to recognize that cybersecurity is not just “an IT Department problem,” but a problem for the whole company and everyone doing business with the company. Sadly, we find mixed commitment from top management in organizations when it comes to cybersecurity, but it is the responsibility of management to ensure that an effective cybersecurity strategy is in place. An attitude of “it can’t happen to us” can be disastrous to a company, its employees, and stakeholders.

There is no cookbook or “off-the-shelf” prevention template with blanks to be filled in, but here’s soup starter for what your organization’s cybersecurity program should include:

• Risk assessment
• Physical protection of assets and personnel
• Security assessment
• Awareness training/procedures training/notification training
• Asset management
• Configuration management
• Firewalls
• Content filtering
• Intrusion prevention systems
• Patch management systems
• Penetration testing and security auditing
• Quick response team
• Contingency planning

Contact IT Radix today and let us help you develop a cybersecurity program tailored to deter and manage exposures.

First published in our February 2023 IT Radix Resource newsletter