Cybersecurity Is Putting Customer Trust at the Center of Competition

If you’re selling a product, you’re now selling trust. That’s thanks to two conflicting trends. One is our increasing reliance on software across nearly every dimension of our lives. It’s for this reason that, among all Fortune 500 CEOs, a full 71% now claim they are running technology companies. The second is the inherent privacy and security vulnerabilities related to software itself. As security and privacy pioneer Willis Ware once wryly declared, “The only computer that’s completely secure is a computer that no one can use.” To navigate these two trends, companies across every vertical will need to prioritize data privacy and security, clearly demonstrate those priorities to consumers, and safeguard their relationships with customers by being fully honest about the dangers of data in the digital age.