As we live in an increasingly connected era, digital interactions between systems, devices and people have become sophisticated. Today, organizations are adopting digital trust as a strategic model. The vital role the digital world plays in the modern world is a differentiator for organizations implementing this currency of trust.
Digital trust is the confidence in the integrity of the relationships, interactions and transactions among providers and consumers within an associated digital ecosystem. This includes the ability of people, organizations, processes, information and technology to create and maintain a trustworthy digital world.
According to ISACA’s 2023 State of Digital Trust Report, high levels of digital trust can lead to positive reputation (highest-ranked benefit reported), more reliable data for decision-making, fewer privacy breaches, fewer cybersecurity incidents, stronger customer loyalty, faster innovation due to confidence in their technology and systems, and higher revenue.
To achieve strong digital trust, an organization needs to have some key components in place, including:
- Quality and Reliability: Customers will only be satisfied if they receive a product or service that is of the quality they expect. If the product or service does not meet customer expectations, digital trust may be damaged, and the customer may not pay or may no longer do business with the company. For example, the quality of a website makes it easy for a customer to find a product, compare it with others and complete a deal/transaction.
- Availability: Digital information from a provider needs to be available and accurate 24/7/365. If customers cannot access up-to-date information when they want or need it, it can harm them and erode trust in the provider. This can come into play with a navigation app showing the latest road conditions and roadblocks, which need to be available at all times.
- Security and Privacy: Many digital transactions require customers to supply personal information including names, birthdates, email addresses, phone numbers, etc. Customers need to be assured that this digital information is adequately secured and kept private. Companies need to ensure that customer information is secure when it needs to be retained and is destroyed when it is no longer needed.
- Ethics and Integrity: Customers expect and often demand that enterprises act ethically and with integrity regarding digital trust. They may base purchase decisions on these factors and will cancel transactions and end the relationship if the company is perceived as lacking in ethics. For example, if a product is introduced as having high standards regarding the security and privacy of customer information, but then the company shares customer information with unauthorized third parties, digital trust is harmed, potentially irreversibly.
- Transparency and Honesty: Customers should be aware of how their information is being used and stored. Transparency, honesty and accountability are especially important in the event of a breach or incident. Companies need to proactively report any incident and clearly communicate with customers in a timely manner about what happened, how the company is addressing it and what the company is doing to prevent similar incidents to preserve digital trust.
- Stability and Resilience: Companies need to maintain a stellar reputation for customer service, while continually evolving and staying ahead of the changing business and technology landscape. It is also critical to have strong business continuity practices in place for managing the aftermath of any incidents that occur. This could include having link redundancy in case of primary link failure.
The currency of trust
If we look at an online shopping experience, we need to consider all components of digital trust. We need to trust:
- the browser is secure (kept up to date)
- the online shopping website doesn’t leak your personal information, ensuring privacy
- the availability of the product as well as its quality and reliability
- the integrity of the payment process and the ethics involved
- there is transparency in product shipment and honesty in what we get for what we paid
- the online shopping process is resilient and the product received is stable
Implementing digital trust in an organization
Organizations can choose to incorporate digital trust in their existing policies, processes and procedures or newly adopt them as a strategic business model. For any initiative, leadership commitment and prioritizing digital trust is a must! Budget and resources are important factors for the implementation. Digital trust education, training and awareness is a core requirement to enhance competence and skills. A risk-aware culture considering business risks, environmental and safety risks, cybersecurity risks, privacy risks, business continuity risks, etc., aids in the implementation.
Aiming for a data-driven business fosters effective decision-making. Ensuring redundancy in assets, information backup and availability of information makes the organization resilient to cyber-attacks. Establishing processes to manage a cybersecurity incident and privacy breaches becomes vital in adhering to legal and regulatory compliance as well as customer contractual obligations. The ability to provide ongoing value and innovation to meet customer needs is an added advantage.
Digital trust can make or break an organization. By following these steps and instilling these components into their business, enterprises can innovate, expand and be resilient in a turbulent, highly connected global marketplace.
References:
2023 State of Digital Trust Report
The above article is authored by Mr. Chetan Anand
About Author: Chetan Anand, CDPSE, ICBIS, CCIO, ICCP, CPEW, CPISI, OneTrust Fellow of Privacy Technology, NLSIU Privacy and Data Protection Laws, ISO 27001 LA, ISO 22301 LA, ISO 27701, ISO 31000, ISO 9001 LA, IRAM2, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, SQAM, Agile Scrum Master, Associate Vice President – Information Security and CISO, Profinch Solutions, and ISACA Global Mentor and Volunteer
