Digital Transformation, Disruption leading the way for Cyber War

We are living in an era of disruption and data economy. Transforming business by leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies, experience design and analytics, leading organizations are using enabling technologies like cloud, artificial intelligence and robotics to disrupt their thinking and transform operations, analytics, customer experience and more.The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.

The biggest technology companies in the world today are Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook. The tech firms are collecting more data, are able to get more insights on their customers and hence are able to improve their products and services much more than any other players, thereby attracting even more customers and then in turn generating even more data. Digital transformation involves managing data on Cloud, Social Media, Networking, Mobility, Analytics to deliver real-time financial reporting, with inbuilt Algorithms to enable executives to make nimble decisions and quickly guide them to informed responses in unexpected situations and also to anticipate the future. It is a self-feeding loop which only ends once a tech player has gained almost entire market share.

Today, around a billion devices are connected worldwide. That is still less than 1% of the potential total. Experts believe that the number of connected devices will grow to 50 billion by 2020. As the number of connected devices continues to explode, there is a new question to consider how will the network devices like switches and access points accommodate the increased data traffic and data density?

Secondly, a million-dollar question is as to how IoT could transform business in future. A simple answer could be: IoT represents a new frontier that is full of both opportunities and risks. The connection of devices, machines, and things allows small- and medium-size businesses to dynamically generate and analyze data, increase operational efficiencies, and power greatly improved business models. The risks of IoT currently include lack of standards and the absence of data security from devices and sensors. 

Lastly, the recent worldwide attack  of WannaCry ransomware has broken all records and its malicious power lies in its ability to replicate itself and spread across once it is inside a system. It targets computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, encrypting data and demanding ransom payments in the Bitcoin crypto currency. The central bank has directed all banks to shut ATMs across the country until they have enough defence in place to deter the infection and spread of the malware. It is world's biggest cyberattack which has sent the countries into a “disaster-recovery mode”. Cyber experts are working around the clock to protect India from the biggest ransomware attack. Advisors are not in favour of paying the ransom as this does not guarantee files will be released.