Tech teachings from COVID

The CEO behind last year’s hottest Nasdaq listing says COVID-19 brings a salient lesson for Australian CEOs.

George Kurtz the CEO of US-listed cyber security company CrowdStrike poses for a photo at the QT hotel in Sydney on the 3st of October 2019. Photographer: Adam Yip

The COVID-19 pandemic should be a lesson to Australia's business leaders that they need to improve their technology skills and understanding, according to the boss of multi-billion dollar cyber security outfit CrowdStrike.

Speaking to The Australian, CrowdStrike chief executive George Kurtz said that COVID-19 has forced businesses to rethink their approach to technology, and demonstrated the importance for Australian CEOs and executives to focus on their tech skills not just commercial acumen.

He said technology had been a core tenet of business operations for a long time but COVID-19 had made technology comprehension a must-have, particularly as many businesses shift to a hybrid model combining remote work with the physical office.

"A lot of folks have gotten by with not necessarily knowing as much about technology as they could have," Mr Kurtz told The Australian. "And that becomes clear when you don't have IT or support staff on board to help out. A lot of executives are scrambling to acquaint themselves with the new normal."

Mr Kurtz added that boards need to be better educated on the importance of making adequate investments in security, given that cybersecurity is challenging businesses now more than ever.

The executive said COVID-themed cyber attacks have remained rampant, providing a difficult challenge for under-resourced businesses.

"I haven't an event like this in security for a long time, one topic that applies everywhere around the globe," he said. "By far universally this is the one topic that has affected everyone, and has the most appeal for both nation state adversaries as well as e-crime groups.

"A lot of businesses have scrambled to be able to protect their environments. One CIO told me 'we had a two year digital transformation road map that we executed in one night', it's incredible."

In July last year, CrowdStrike listed on the Nasdaq, as the hottest tech listing on Wall Street for the year.

The company's share price nearly doubled on its listing day in June, after an IPO that valued CrowdStrike at $US7bn. The Calfornia-based company focuses on endpoint detection and response.

Mr Kurtz said that listing a company amid the pandemic right now would be difficult, so he was grateful CrowdStrike completed its public offering last year.

"I think we put ourselves in a position to be successful with the growth and numbers we've been able to deliver," he said. "[Being public] also does give us a lot more brand awareness, which comes with being a public company, but we've got our heads down and we let the markets take care of themselves. If we take care of the customers, everything else falls into place."

Mr Kurtz's comments come as new research from Accenture found that 80 per cent of Australian companies believe their cybersecurity investments are failing, despite the number of breaches in Australia increasing 50 per cent from 2018 to 2019.

The 'State of Cyber Resilience Research' interviewed 373 Australian security executives and found 70 per cent said costs to shore up cyber resilience are spiralling out of control, and that staying ahead of attackers is a constant battle.

Less than half of respondents (43 per cent) said they are actively protected by their security programs, while over 90 of all breaches in Australian companies lasted more than 24 hours.

“Now, more than ever, cybersecurity is an increasing challenge for Australian organisations, as the prevalence of sophisticated and insidious cyber-attacks continues to grow," Accenture's security lead Joseph Failla said.

"Organisations are grappling with the new and sudden reality of COVID-19 which is putting even greater strain on their already under-pressure security systems. Using threat intelligence and more strategic approaches to cybersecurity can help

"Australian organisations stay protected and better equipped to respond effectively when the enemy strikes. By becoming more resilient and agile, businesses will be able to grow confidently through this turbulent time.”