Elizabeth Denham, Information Commissioner, made several points in her 12 May 2021 speech useful for those at the top of an organisation faced with the challenge of creating a security-first culture.
The idea that data is a key asset to be managed and protected if its value is to be realised was at the heart of her keynote:
“At its core, data protection is about trust.”
That is why the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the last three years have seen a real shift “with cyber security moving from being an IT responsibility to a board level imperative”
A security-first mindset, or privacy by design, originates and is sustained by leaders combining tech and culture:
“…my experience is that the biggest data security breaches come not from a lack of technical knowledge, but from a lack of awareness of what data a company holds, and a lack of staff training on processes. The law, of course, requires both.”Here is the transcript of her keynote speech so you can consider how to apply these principles for the good of your organisation, clients and stakeholders.