The Panama Papers leak
earlier this year caused tremendous fall-out around the world with the
political class and the “establishment”. It also helped to galvinise all organisations
to tighten up their privacy protections as a key factor in engendering customer
trust. But perhaps what has been missed
in all this is the actual motivation behind the hacking. The goal was not to deny the use of the
computer system or to use it for direct financial gain (well from what we
know). It appears this was more
“hacktivism”, an action driven by moral outrage.
With cyber security more
prominent on the board agenda now, this example does help to provide another
building block in the business case for more ethical cultures and responsible
business practices. If all stakeholders
in an organisation are identified, treated fairly and proportionately, surely
this will help to reduce the risk of cyber security attacks from connected,
aggrieved parties at least, and help to build a company’s reputation to help it
withstand the fall-out from any subsequent damage? Cyber security must now be part of a company's risk
mitigation strategy. One of the best ways of maximising this investment and improving all risk defences must surely be a
grounding in solid ethical behaviours?
