As technology advances, the one-million-dollar question is not if a cyberattack will occur but
when? This is because the rampant threat of cyberattacks has become a great challenge for
governments, businesses, and individuals. These include but are not limited to ransomware attacks
on hospitals and phishing schemes targeting individual personal accounts and details. Thus, the fight
against cybercrime is deemed universal. However, a fundamental debate persists: Is speed or strategy
the ultimate key to cybersecurity success?
To begin with, the importance of speed cannot be overemphasized. A rapid response to a
cyberattack can mitigate the damage, minimize downtime, and potentially outpace an attacker.
However, reacting too fast can lead to oversight, missteps, and wasted resources. A similitude of this
is like a firefighter rushing into a blaze without assessing the safest approach. For this reason, a
cogent question has to be asked metaphorically: are we merely extinguishing fires or are we building
fireproof systems?
In answering the above question, strategy comes into play. This is because effective
cybersecurity strategies prioritize the ability to prepare, respond and recover from cyberattacks
rather than perfection or solely aim to prevent them altogether. Hence, instead of striving for an
unrealistic bulletproof defence, strategic foresight would enable proactive measures. These include
but are not limited to advanced threat detection, regular data backups, and incident response plans.
It thence follows that the challenge lies in striking a balance between these two forces. Are
we running fast in the wrong direction or thoughtfully charting the course ahead?
Therefore, it is submitted that the solution may not lie in choosing speed over strategy and
vice versa but in intertwining the two. Hence, by combining both speed and strategy, preventing
cybercrime becomes less about chasing threats and more about staying steps ahead.