Why cyber security is no longer optional

irene · 2026-03-16

One morning in 2025, the world woke up to shocking news of a cyberattack on high profile corporate entities in Tanzania. A chilling cyber attack had hit not just any other entity, but the social media accounts of the country’s police force, a demonstration of the extent that hackers can go.

And what was more, the hackers spread falsehoods at a time of political tension, forcing a temporary block of the platform, with the country’s official calling for strengthened controls. 

Closer home, the Kenya government dismissed reports of hacking in ministries and departments, terming it as 'sponsored propaganda', even as it insisted that data was not compromised.

These are not an isolated case; it is a reality in the ever changing technologies and unpredictable market dynamics and great lessons were drawn from the incident.

Cybersecurity is no longer optional, threats are evolving every day and goes beyond things like viruses. Ensuring appropriate controls are in place is no longer a luxury for any given enterprise – large, medium or small.

In a world where there is greater sophistication and more frequent cyberattacks while at the same time, clients are being cautious about data protection - calls for strong security strategies and resilient systems.

Even worse, today, a majority of those attacking systems have developed erudite tactics that could easily bring down the credibility of an enterprise, which may have taken a lot of effort and energy to build.

Large, medium or enterprises are all affected and hence the need to ensure they have robust defense mechanisms. Cyber security management for an enterprise is critical to provide proper protection from cyber-attacks, intrusions and various types of data breaches.

From the very beginning, modern business should be careful about their system acquisition mechanisms. Firstly, businesses should be cautious about the vendors they acquire systems from. When obtaining software, it is important to ensure up-to-date and trusted components.

According to the 2025 Microsoft Digital Defense Report (MDDR), the emerging AI in cybersecurity is creating new challenges as organizations rush to adapt systems, understand new threats, and equip their people with new knowledge to keep pace.

The MDDR recommends the need to treat cybersecurity as a business risk on par with financial or legal challenges in addition to prioritizing protection identities.

It states that cybersecurity is a whole-of-organization effort and it should be a priority to upskill workforce and consider making security part of performance reviews.

“Track and report metrics like multifactor authentication (MFA) coverage, patch latency, incident counts, and incident response time to develop a comprehensive understanding of both your organization’s potential vulnerabilities and its preparedness in the event of a cybersecurity incident,” the report states.

Similarly, the World Economic Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, states that cybersecurity is a frontier where collaboration remains not only possible, but powerful’.

“Ultimately, strengthening collective cyber resilience has become both an economic and a societal imperative. Cybersecurity is a frontier where collaboration remains not only possible, but powerful – a reminder that, even amid fragmentation, economic strain and uncertainty, collective action can drive progress for all,” the 2026 outlook states.

It is therefore important to conduct regular risk assessment to know your vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue and as technology evolves, there is need to stay safe and watch out for any malware eventualities.

That one of the difficulties experienced in a revolution is adapting is not in doubt but the sooner we realize how important it is to embrace change, the better, if we are to protect our businesses. While at it let us be cautious of our digital footprints!