As discussed in previous articles in this series, when natural disaster strikes, there is the tendency to blame the gods.
However, as we have also seen, there were two teams of climbers climbing the mountain on the same day.
Both teams experienced similar conditions.
Both teams faced overcrowding on the mountain.
Both teams had individuals who were desperate to scale the summit despite the inherent risk.
Rob, the leader of one of the teams, capitulated and changed his plans, which resulted in his death and the death of some members of his teams.
David, the leader of the second team, was resolute and stood firm on his decision to descend the mountain despite the disappointment of his team mates.
That decision to retreat in the face of opposition turned out to be prophylactic.
David displayed productive paranoia.
Productive paranoia is one of the key distinguishing traits author Jim Collins found in successful organisations that was lacking in unsuccessful organisations.
Productive paranoia is not being paranoid for the sake of wanting to be paranoid.
Productive paranoia is being hypersensitive to changing conditions, continually asking, “What if?”
It is preparing ahead of time, building reserve and maintaining “irrationally” large margins of cash safety.
Productive paranoia is bounding risk and honing disciplines in good times and bad, so that you can handle disruptions from a position of strength and flexibility.
Productive paranoia is understanding deeply that the only mistakes you can learn from are the ones you survive.
Be Paranoid About Cyber Attack
Cyber attack can have devastating consequences on organisations.
Senior executives of every organisation need to be acutely aware of this fact.
Cyber attack can cause huge financial losses to organisations.
A single incident of cyber attack could swipe out years of profit.
Furthermore, it erodes confident in the organisation’s ability to keep customers as well as employee data safe.
Therefore, senior executives of organisations need to display productive paranoia to the extent of putting in place countermeasures to prevent cyber attack on their organisations.
Penetration Testing the Best Countermeasure
One of the best countermeasures organisations you can implement is penetration testing.
Penetration testing allow organisations to identify vulnerabilities within their network before they are spotted by hackers.
Hackers spend their time seeking organisations with vulnerabilities to exploit.
The more proactive you are at preventing hackers from intruding into your network, the better it is for your organisation.
The most effective countermeasure for preventing cyber attack is penetration testing.
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