BUSINESS CRIME & PROTECTION
FEATURE
Generation
The next great cyber security risk?
By Aaron Yates, Chief Executive at Berea Associates
I was recently posed a thought-provoking question. As our children grow up in a hyper-connected world saturated by technological marvels, which they take to at breathtaking speed, what will be the effect on our businesses as these individuals enter the workforce? For cyber security in particular there are likely to be ramifications that the business community will be unable to resolve. The root cause - we now have the first true generation of
‘digital natives’, sometimes dubbed ‘screenagers’ or ‘Generation Z’, entering the workforce. These individuals were born into a world of constant connectivity through smartphones and free WiFi, armed from birth with incredible inherent technical prowess. Some of Generation Z’s more worrying societal
contributions to date include ‘sexting’, ‘cyberbullying’ and a growing number of unchallenged ‘script kiddies’. We have a generation that is developing anxieties from seeing perfectly-crafted photos posted on social media by their peers, and in the next breath being treated for depression from not having those same experiences, bodies or financial capabilities in that same moment.
In contrast, for much of today’s workforce technology
has steadily supplemented our working lives. It has evolved alongside our careers; it has not always been as present or as powerful. Importantly, technology hasn’t defined who we are, it has simply augmented us. A fundamental point is this; the majority of us were raised with life lessons such as “look left and right before you cross the road” and “don’t talk to strangers”. These lessons have been honed through generations of parenting. These sound bites, imprinted on us as children, have built a harmonised commercial culture, one that was cautious yet capable.
business network June 2017 39
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