David Samuelson, the Chief Executive Officer at ISACA has said, “Digital trust is the bedrock of business relationships and is critical for strategic digital transformation.”
The State of Digital Trust 2022 survey report was released by ISACA and - after surveying 2,755 international business and IT professionals - 98% of respondents confirmed that building digital trust is a crucial aspect of any business, yet only 12% of organizations have prioritized digital trust building initiatives.
The McKinsey report states that 40% of all the respondents to their study have confessed to pulling their business from companies that do not show priority protection to their customers’ data. In the past year alone, 14% of the McKinsey participants have stopped doing business entirely with a company due to disagreeing with their ethical principles, while 10% of them have left a company after learning about a data breach incident suffered - regardless of whether their own data had been stolen or not. In the Asia–Pacific region, 49% of consumers admit that they trust products relying on AI more than those relying largely on people.
While 82% of corporations admit that digital trust will become essential within the next five years, only 29% of those same corporations offer staff digital trust training. Creating digital trust is an integral step to maintaining our connections with each other – within the scope of technology and our human drive for truth.
What Is Digital Trust?
The advancements in technology have made it clear that we cannot function without connectivity - and as human nature demands, our connections with one another have to be free of malice and provide a sense of control and reliability. These are the same principles we may apply to our technology needs.
Digital trust can be defined as the confidence that consumers, employees, shareholders, and the general public have in a corporation about their digital welfare. A company can build on that trust by ensuring the protection and responsible usage of client data, maintaining confidentiality, and instilling their core values into their services and products.
Digital trust sees that a relationship of integrity and honesty is formed and is kept enriched by the consistent and strengthening actions of an organization to ensure it. The World Economic Forum describes digital trust as a necessity in a global economy that is reliant on increasing connectivity, data use, and innovative technologies.
Why Digital Trust Matters
The ability to provide comes with the responsibility to protect. As providers of specific computing services, it’s essential to maintain a higher level of integrity with the clients that you wish to satisfy, the investors you wish to partner and the public that you wish to appeal to. The digital trust fostered will serve as a reminder of your company’s values.
Cyber-resilience and security form a major part of digital trust – companies that rely heavily on data protection are deemed to be more trustworthy and reliable than companies that don’t. It’s also clear to see how an improvement in digital trust can positively influence your business - we can break down the benefits of investing in digital trust as follows:
A Positive Reputation
We know that a company’s worth is only as good as the brand it attains in the public eye and with a focus on the digital trust created for your company, you allow the reputation of your organization to be associated with security and integrity and speak for itself.
Fewer Privacy Breaches
Building digital trust for your organization will assure your clients that their data is safe in your hands. With an increased layer of protection, your company is less likely to suffer the brunt of a privacy breach or ransomware attack – assuring customers of their data integrity.
Fewer Cybersecurity Incidents
The push for higher cybersecurity capabilities to create a sense of digital trust does have the added benefit of actually improving your cybersecurity. Systems will ultimately become less vulnerable to cyber-attacks and malware when your company takes the directive to install more efficient safeguards in the interest of digital trust.
Increase in Customer Loyalty
When a customer can understand your company’s values through its practices, it can build a long-lasting and fulfilling relationship for both of you. Clients are more inclined to stay with a company that has assured cybersecurity and an instilled environment of digital trust.
Faster Innovation
The push for advanced technology has driven companies to constantly innovate and improve their services and products for the sake of customer satisfaction. This focus on consumer-oriented functions will ensure that your company delivers faster and more efficient solutions.
Higher Revenue
The previously mentioned study run by McKinsey has also shown that companies that are best positioned to build digital trust are also more likely to see annual growth rates of at least 10% on their top and bottom lines. It’s not far-fetched to deduce that companies with more efficient, reliable, and secure products and services will retain a higher revenue.
The drive for better digital trust encourages organizations to prioritize cybersecurity and the responsible usage and protection of client data to build a transparent and value-driven corporate structure.
The same McKinsey study reported that 59% of consumers think that companies generally care more about profiting from their data than protecting it. We hope that with the added fiscal, security, and brand benefits mentioned, companies will choose to reassure their customers by rebuilding that sense of digital trust.
Deloitte has asserted that digital trust is likely to be granted to organizations that implement forward-looking and modern cyber-security strategies. The analysis of drivers and trends affecting digital trust will help companies develop more efficiently for the future and can be easily achieved by making use of the right cybersecurity provider.
Building Digital Trust for your Company with Sangfor Solutions
Sangfor offers a variety of cybersecurity solutions that push toward data protection, transparency, and integrity. We pride ourselves on offering clients the peace of mind of knowing that their data is secure and allowing them to foster digital trust with their own clients in turn.
The Sangfor security solutions available for your company include:
- Sangfor’s Next Generation Firewall, which provides a holistic view of your organization’s security network - with ease of operation and maintenance for administration. The advanced firewall is used in conjunction with Endpoint Security to identify malicious files at both the network level and endpoints and ensures that any security threats are curbed swiftly and effectively.
- Sangfor's Cyber Command is a next-generation network detection and automated threat response platform that helps businesses identify and hunt down threats with the help of its unique Threat Intelligence software and enhanced AI algorithm – the platform will keep you updated if there are any vulnerabilities in your system.
- Sangfor’s Anti-Ransomware Solution provides an innovative strategy that successfully mitigates ransomware attacks by breaking every step in the kill chain – providing encompassing and transparent protection, while using Sangfor’s Engine Zero software with multi-stage AI analysis capabilities to detect anomalies.
- Moreover, Sangfor’s Incident Response looks to locating and eradicating threats while implementing active disaster recovery protocols and providing tailored analysis to help safeguard your company from any future cyber-attacks.
- Finally, the Sangfor Extended Detection Defense and Response (XDDR) platform directly coordinates responses between Sangfor and certain third-party products using Sangfor’s Cyber Command to integrate threat information - uncovering hidden threats to on-site or remote employees.
Sangfor understands the need to build digital trust and strives to provide the best cybersecurity options available in order to create an advanced value-driven digital age. For more information on Sangfor’s cyber security and cloud computing solutions, visit www.sangfor.com.
