Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
PwC Report: Canadian Digital Trust Insights 2021: Cybersecurity comes of age
PwC Canada | Jan 2021
Overview
- Accelerated digitization will continue to be one of the key impacts of COVID-19, but as new business models interact with new technologies, cybersecurity strategies across industries will need to shift to meet changing demands.
- As organizations digitize, getting the most value out of every cyber dollar spent will become even more critical, not just because of our current economic climate, but also because every new digital process can become a vulnerability.
- In the next year, many organizations will increase cyber budgets and add full-time cyber personnel, and they’re looking for a mix of soft skills, such as critical thinking and communication, and technical skills, such as familiarity with cloud solutions.
Just decades after coming out from under IT’s wing, the cybersecurity profession has matured. Cyber teams are now armed with the insight and foresight only experience can provide. And the timing couldn’t be better, as many of the industries, organizations and people they serve are at a pivotal moment.
Our findings from the Global Digital Trust Insights 2021 survey of more than 3,000 business and technology executives around the world, including a significant number of Canadian respondents, tell us what’s changing and what’s next in cybersecurity.
See: Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist
In brief, organizations’ expectations of their security leaders continue to rise. No longer focused just on technology, although it’s very much in the picture, cyber’s real role now and into the future will be strengthening and increasing the resilience of their organizations.
Reset your cyber strategy
Our survey found that 44% of Canadian respondents (40% globally) say they expect accelerated digitization to be a likely outcome of COVID-19. Many are taking on business strategies they hadn’t imagined before, including e-commerce, new markets, new business models, remote working and automation. And 15% of Canadian respondents (21% globally) are changing their core business model and redefining their organizations.
But as we see new business models interact with new technologies, we’re also seeing the introduction of new cyber risks.
Traditional approaches to cyber just can’t keep up with the pace and scale of digitization. And they’re slowing down business strategies and impacting both the top and bottom line. So it’s really not surprising that nearly all respondents (97% in Canada and 96% globally) say their industry’s cybersecurity strategies will shift as a result of COVID-19.
See: Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
Which of the following changes are most likely to be impacts of the COVID-19 experience on cybersecurity in your industry?
| Canada | Global | |
| Greater resilience testing to account for more low-likelihood, high-impact events | 57% | 43% |
| Cybersecurity and privacy implications baked into every business decision or planning | 55% | 50% |
| More frequent interactions between CISO and the CEO or boards | 41% | 43% |
| New process of budgeting for cyber spend or investments | 39% | 44% |
| Better and more granular quantification of cyber risk | 37% | 44% |
| No changes due to COVID-19 | 3% | 4% |
Level the playing field with attackers
Innovation is changing the cybersecurity game, giving new advantages to defenders and allowing them to level the playing field with attackers. Leading organizations are exploring advanced methods to protect their expanding digital ecosystems. But this isn’t optional—increased adoption of cloud, automation and Internet of Things (IoT) systems means organizations need to rethink their defences, as these systems can’t be protected with traditional IT security methods.
See: SWIFT publishes “Follow the Money” report to aid comprehension of money laundering risks underpinning large-scale cyber-heists
According to our survey, the top three cybersecurity approaches that Canadian organizations have implemented and are currently realizing the most benefits from are security orchestration and automation (19%), modern identity and access management (17%) and integrated cloud and network security (17%).
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