Cyber Resilience: Moving Beyond the Buzzword with Ayanda Peta
Ayanda Peta, CISO at African Rainbow Minerals Ltd, explores how cyber resilience is no longer just an IT conversation—it’s a business imperative.
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Cyber Resilience: A Business, Not Just a Technical Challenge
Note: The below article has been created using a transcript of the session video.
In today’s digital world, cyber resilience isn’t just a technical issue—it’s a business-critical challenge. Ayanda Peta, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at African Rainbow Minerals Ltd, took the stage at Africa Tech Festival 2024 to break down how organizations can move beyond the buzzword of cyber resilience and implement real, actionable strategies.
“You probably don’t know whether your organization has been hacked or not,” Peta stated. “And maybe by the time you find out, it will be three months later. The real question is: what do you do about it?”
This keynote session addressed three major themes:
- The launch of the Cloud Security Alliance South Africa Chapter
- How Zero Trust and cyber resilience work together
- The 5-step methodology to prepare for inevitable cyberattacks
Cloud Security: A Growing Priority for African Businesses
Cyber resilience starts with strong cloud security. Peta announced the launch of the Cloud Security Alliance South Africa Chapter, a dedicated community to:
- Upskill professionals in cloud security
- Address cloud migration challenges for African organisations
- Provide a platform for knowledge-sharing on emerging cyber threats
“We know there’s a shortage of cloud security skills, so we’re launching this initiative to fill that gap. We encourage individuals, organisations, and sponsors to join us,” Peta emphasised.
Cyber Resilience: The New Business Language
The conversation about cyber resilience has evolved from a purely technical discussion to a critical business conversation.
“Resilience is about inspiring confidence in your stakeholders. When - not if - a cyberattack happens, can you recover quickly? Can you restore operations without losing customer trust?”
Peta outlined key business risks associated with cyber threats, including:
- Financial loss
- Reputational damage
- Regulatory penalties (POPIA, GDPR, etc.)
To address these risks, cyber professionals must speak the language of business. Cyber resilience isn’t just about security controls - it’s about keeping organisations operational in the face of inevitable attacks.
Zero Trust & Cyber Resilience: A Unified Approach
Zero Trust and Cyber Resilience aren’t opposing strategies - they work together.
Zero Trust ensures continuous verification of users, devices, and applications to minimise risk.
Cyber Resilience ensures that, even when a breach occurs, the organisation can recover swiftly.
"Zero Trust prepares us for the attack. Cyber Resilience ensures we recover from it," Peta explained. "If you assume you will be breached at some point, then you must also assume you need a clear response plan.”
Organisations must ask themselves:
- Do we have a cyber response plan?
- Are key stakeholders trained to act when an attack occurs?
- How do we measure and improve our resilience?
The 5-Step Cyber Resilience Methodology
Peta introduced a five-step methodology to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to cyberattacks:
1️⃣ Understand the External Threat Landscape
- Identify emerging threats and vulnerabilities beyond your organization.
- Assess global and regional cybersecurity trends affecting your industry.
2️⃣ Analyse Your Organization’s Specific Risk Profile
- What are the biggest cyber risks unique to your business?
- How does your company’s digital footprint impact its attack surface?
3️⃣ Scenario-Based Cyber Attack Planning
- Develop realistic attack scenarios specific to your organization.
- Simulate attacks to test preparedness and response.
4️⃣ Routine Training & Executive Support
- Conduct quarterly cyber drills with key stakeholders.
- Ensure executives and board members understand cyber risks.
5️⃣ Measure & Communicate Cyber Resilience
- Define key indicators to track resilience progress.
- Clearly articulate cybersecurity ROI to leadership.
"Executives always ask: ‘What’s the ROI of cybersecurity?’ If you can’t explain the value in business terms, you haven’t done enough,” Peta emphasized.
Call to Action: Measuring and Communicating Resilience
For publicly listed companies, cyber resilience should be a leading indicator of business stability.
“We need to confidently tell the market: ‘We are prepared. We can respond. We are resilient,’” Peta urged.
This requires a shift in mindset:
- Cyber resilience is no longer an IT metric - it’s a business metric.
- Companies that invest in cyber resilience will gain stakeholder confidence and competitive advantage.