Introduction
The global business environment has experienced intense dynamism due to technological advancements. Multiple organizations across various industries have made a great effort to integrate innovative strategies in their daily operations to generate massive benefits. However, the growth in technology for organizations presents many challenges. Sony Inc., one of the largest digital business corporations globally, was recently involved in a cybersecurity saga, an incident that threatened its cybersecurity status (Seal, 2015). This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the challenges encountered by Sony Inc. due to the digital age’s advancements; it also provides recommendations for improving workers’ morale and performance following a cyberattack encounter.
Summary and Evaluation of Sony’s Challenges due to Growth in the Digital Age
Cyber Crime and Cyber Attacks
The leading executives at Sony realized that their computer systems and databases had been hacked by a cyber-crime entity known as GOP (Guardians of Peace). The cyberattack was communicated to the business executives via email, and they were threatened with a possible systems-breakdown if they failed to cooperate with the cybercriminals (Seal, 2015). Pascal and Lynton communicated to the 3,500 employees who executed various roles at Sony Pictures and Sony Digital about the cybercrime incident. As time progressed, the attackers disabled the company’s entire computer systems, and employees could no longer use the internal computer and information system for business operations (Seal, 2015). The cyber-attack presented a significant challenge to Sony, and it is directly linked with the strategy for technology growth in the company.
Communication Breakdown
During Sony’s hacking incident, the email system serving over 3,500 employees at Sony was crushed; this, in turn, caused a severe communication breakdown. Employees encountered significant challenges when sharing and exchanging information within the company’s network (Seal, 2015). Pascal and Lynton acted promptly and advised workers to utilize their communication channels while handling work-related tasks. Communication breakdown was compounded by the issue of data theft, whereby about 100 terabytes of Sony’s internal database was in the control of cybercriminals. From a business perspective, communication efficiency plays a crucial role in promoting efficiency in business processes and operations. Therefore, the communication failure due to this incident crippled the operational effectiveness at Sony.
Low Adaptability to Shifts in Technology
Sony’s IT systems’ vulnerability to cybercriminals’ schemes revealed several weaknesses about the state of the corporation’s cyber-security systems. The unauthorized access to the company’s important data and firebombs’ use to destroy the entity’s databases revealed the underlying weak points regarding the organization’s preparedness to handling digital threats, including cyberattacks (Seal, 2015). The corporation should have invested in high-level cybersecurity systems that would have created a robust protective mechanism against its computer systems’ susceptibilities (Seal, 2015). The challenge is evidenced by the company’s slow-paced adaptability to the evolving advancements in the technological and digital space.
Recommendations for the Enhancing Workplace Morale and Performance
On July 15, 2020, several Bitcoin-related accounts started sending tweets pledging to “give back” to society by doubling any cryptocurrency sent to the provided address. Three people, including Graham Ivan Clark, a seventeen-year-old teenager from Florida, were connected to the hack (Pappas, 2021). They allegedly hacked one-hundred-and-thirty Twitter accounts and attempted to dupe followers of influential personalities to transfer over $100,000 in cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) to Clark’s accounts (Pappas, 2021). According to Pappas (2021), Clark presented himself as an IT unit employee to the company worker. He convinced him to submit company credentials used to access the organization’s consumer service portal. Security protections were breached, and some users’ passwords reset; this allowed hackers to control these accounts.
As a senior leader in the organization, I would provide adequate cybersecurity training, develop international communication channels, perform workplace evaluations, and create an employee reward system, to improve performance and boost morale. I would reward employees who discover malicious emails and share accounts of how workers helped resolve security issues. Other types of incentives applicable in this scenario include offering opportunities for growth within the company, particularly for workers who successfully finish security awareness programs.
There are various security interest levels in a company; therefore, it underscores the need to ascertain the most appropriate ways to disseminate security-related information to all workers within the organization. Hiring a cybersecurity advocate for each unit will serve as an effective strategy for reinforcing a security culture. These professionals will be charged with organizing and overseeing employee training programs, motivating workers, and updating the management on the advancements being implemented to strengthen workplace security.
Establishing an internal communication approach will involve providing workers with a step-by-step guideline on handling cyber-related issues and the recommended protocol for reporting such cases. The strategy above will empower employees and provide them with crucial insights into the appropriate procedures for managing cyberattacks (Li et al., 2019). Transparency will be at the core of the developed communication procedure; this component will ensure that the management team gains workers’ trust and employee buy-in.
Cybercriminals continually advance their tactics, and the best way to ensure that the company keeps up with their pace is to ensure that workers are knowledgeable of the underlying cybersecurity risks and the strategies for handling these issues. This goal can only be attained by ensuring that employees are continually trained on various cybersecurity issues. I would adopt the “live wire” approach, a coaching strategy recommended by De Bruijin and Jansen (2017), which involves initiating a simulated attack and encouraging pertinent employees to resolve the problem. This training method will serve as a learning platform for the company’s workers. Cybersecurity will also be part of the onboarding process; regular evaluations regarding workers’ performance during these training sessions will also be done.
Conclusion
The growth in technology for organizations presents many challenges, including cybersecurity threats, which may harm a firm’s reputation and lead to important data and financial losses. Sony’s security-related vulnerabilities exposed the company to a cyberattack incident, which led to the loss of crucial company data and disrupted its normal operations. Twitter also fell prey to cyber-related attacks, an incident that compromised the firm’s reputation. As a senior leader in the organization, I would provide adequate cybersecurity training, develop international communication channels, perform workplace evaluations, and create an employee reward system.
References
De Bruijin, H., & Jansen, M. (2017). Building cybersecurity awareness: The need for evidence-based framing strategies. Government Information Quarterly, 34(1), 1–7. Web.
Li, L., He, W., Xu, L., Ash, I., Anwar, M., & Yuan, X. (2019). Investigating the impact of cybersecurity policy awareness on employees’ cybersecurity behavior. International Journal of Information Management, 45,13–24. Web.
Pappas, J. (2021). How an online attack brought Twitter to its knees. The New York Times. Web.
Seal, M. (2015). An exclusive look at Sony’s hacking saga. Vanity Fair. Web.