With dedicated response playbooks and simulations, we have cut incident response time by 50%: Balwant Singh, Group CISO & DPO, DS Group

For most organisations, cybersecurity is a demanding responsibility, but for a conglomerate as diverse as DS Group, with businesses spanning FMCG, hospitality, luxury, agro, retail, and manufacturing, the complexity grows exponentially. Each vertical brings its own digital dependencies, regulatory frameworks, threat surface and operational realities. Yet, the company is attempting what many security leaders consider the holy grail, a single cybersecurity posture capable of protecting fundamentally different businesses without slowing innovation.

“It’s a landscape defined by variety, and that makes it challenging,” reflects Balwant Singh, Group CISO & DPO, DS Group. “The FMCG, retail and hospitality businesses deal heavily with consumer data and digital touchpoints, whereas the other business verticals and manufacturing units rely on operational technologies and interconnected supply chains. The task is to create a cybersecurity and data-protection posture that is flexible enough to support this diversity while strong enough to provide consistent governance ...