Cybersecurity vs Information Security - What You Need To Look For When Hiring Someone To Secure Your Data

You’re more than likely reading this on a device connected to the internet: the same device you no doubt also browse social media platforms, do online shopping, talk to friends and loved ones and take photos. You might even use your device to access online banking services or to talk via confidential channels with work friends or peers. 

Every touchpoint, every moment spent online, every data-set stored on your device or transferred to servers has been secured by a fastidious team of technologists, developers, cybersecurity, and information security experts. 

There are, however, crucial differences between cyber security experts and information security professionals - for those looking to hire talent in either field you need to have a critical understanding of both the nature of online and information security in the digital age and what each role gives you, despite large portions of each role intersecting. 

The importance of a secure digital ecosystem

The role of information and cyber security experts is in constant flux. 

Their work has built a foundational and growing understanding of our digital ecosystem of privacy and security. This field has rapidly transformed how we interact and do business, and this environment of secure online experiences and data generation is only getting bigger - it is predicted that 463 exabytes of data will be generated, each day, by people as of 2025. For reference, some technologists have estimated that “all the words ever spoken by mankind would be equal to five Exabytes”, just to give you some sense of scale.

Digital security experts are now facing a wave of novel, online-based criminality that aims to take advantage of our expanding online world, and this is where information and cyber security needs are at their highest - reports state there is an attempted hack every 39 seconds since COVID-19 cyber-crime reportings have risen 300%, 95% of reported data breaches or hacks are caused by human error... and that $6 trillion will be spent on cybercrime in 2021.

The future of data protection

To protect the rising tide of data generation and use, it is vital enterprises across the world factor in how vulnerable their systems are, how potentially vulnerable future lines of data generation are, and how investing in a talented security apparatus is essential. 

This is where business leaders need to make a targeted decision on the talent or third-party security system they bring into their business fold. Security has to be relevant to their industry, understandable, affordable, and able to handle growth and/or rapid shifts of business priorities.

Making a crucial distinction in your online security needs

Cyber security and information security - two sides of the same coin, or competing frames of security reference? How do you know what you need, where you need it, and if you need it, when responsibilities and even terminology intersect?

Cyber security and information security ostensibly operate in the same space - they both work together to guarantee network and data protection, secure any data generated, and secure your wider network from breaches including every touchpoint of your internal network, customers, stakeholders, or visitors. The difference lies in in-depth service.

• Cyber security professionals secure your online network - stopping breaches, securing touchpoints, understanding where vulnerabilities lie, and shoring up any issues, discrepancies, or gaps in the security net. They think like a hacker, and it’s their job to understand your network inside and out. 

• Information security professionals sit one step above and beyond cyber security, overseeing the entire security network for every piece of information and data set generated. Information security experts take a more holistic view of digital and online security, making strategic decisions to improve security across the entire breadth of an enterprise including cyber security, and other places where information is held, analyzed, generated, and communicated between parties.

Think about cyber security professionals being the security at the front door of a venue, and information security as the CCTV - they compliment the other, but where cyber security is focused on access security, and data protection, information security considers this amid the context of all data generated by an enterprise, how it interacts and how it’s secured.