Philosophy

Companies are tempted to add new tools and software just because they are new and/or free. But so called “tools without skills” don’t make any sense as they are not used to their full extent by the users and therefore not providing the benefits that they were purchased for. The bigger and more scattered your IT infrastructure is and the more integration layers you have, the more vulnerable you are to attacks. Reducing your portfolio by removing redundant applications and is key to our cybersecurity strategy.

Also for people, less is more: Employees faced with multitasking, stress and pressure are prone to make mistakes or even become cybersecurity risks themselves. Creating and nurturing a healthy company culture is a cybersecurity measure.

A survey conducted by the World Economic Forum has shown that legacy systems and processes as well as a lack of overview on supply chain security are seen by 53% of CEOs as major risks for cyberattacks.

Remember the fable of the race between the hare and the turtle in which the slow but thorough turtle won against the fast but irresponsible hare?

The slow movement has reached IT, and we bring it to Cybersecurity. Going too fast means losing control and only reacting when threats appear. Going slow means taking time to understand your specific risk factors within and beyond your IT to build a sustainable shell of protection that will trigger fast responses when it really counts.

As per a SECO survey, 60% of Swiss workers report that they often or always feel pressured and stressed by high working speed, making Switzerland the fastest-paced working environment in Europe. At the same time, a global study has found that 50% of organizations are at risk of a cyberattack due to exhausted and stressed employees.

Technology is always bound to its users, and its users are always bound to their sociocultural background.

This is why the Slow Cybersecurity© framework is not only focusing on scanning and protecting your IT, but also needs to gain a thorough understanding of your employees and how they use your systems. Working from home, from the train or from the coffee shop has become a reality, and so has the usage of multiple, sometimes private, devices and open-source communication tools. Generative AI will be next. Raising awareness about the risks while not cutting down personal decisions about work behavior is key.

A Deloitte survey has found that 42% of employees report that their employer has never provided security training or awareness raising measures on working securely from home. In ten years, 40% of workers in Switzerland will regularly work from home.

We all know that there are too few women working in Cybersecurity, in Switzerland and elsewhere. But just teaching women to address cybersecurity from a male perspective is not enough. Women have a particular way of thinking and problem-solving that is less linear and more circular, less logical and more creative, less focussed and more distributed.

These characteristics suit well with the characteristics of today’s cyberspace. A female perspective is crucial in understanding and anticipating cyber vulnerabilities.

The World Economic Forum sees the lack of diversity in cybersecurity professions and the related lack of creative and unusual thinking as a major future cyber risk. In Switzerland, only 14% of cybersecurity experts are women (world-wide approximately 25%).

Slow Cybersecurity© was born in Switzerland and feels committed to local values like quality, stability, and innovating while taking sufficient time to think. These values strongly resonate with the principles of Slow Cybersecurity©.

Our team combines local presence and know-how with European expertise in technology to provide a protective shell around your company.

As per a Digital Switzerland study, more than 50% of Swiss SMEs plan to increase their cybersecurity measures in the coming years. While the protection of IT is advancing, the importance of trainings and governance is being underestimated.