Conceptual Foundations for Forming a Business Economic Security System under Digital Transformation

Abstract

The article examines the theoretical and methodological foundations for forming a business economic security system under digital transformation. The article substantiates the dual impact of digitalization on economic security: digital technologies improve business-process transparency, accelerate managerial decision-making, and expand risk-forecasting capabilities, while also increasing dependence on digital infrastructure and exposure to cyber, information, technological, financial, and operational threats. The need to move from fragmented responses to individual threats towards an integrated, risk-oriented and adaptive economic security system is established. Changes in the business risk profile caused by automation, platformisation, cloud technologies, big data and artificial intelligence are systematized. Six interconnected functional contours are proposed: strategic and institutional, financial and economic, digital and cyber, operational, human capital and competence, and information and analytical. A conceptual architecture for forming the system is developed, linking strategic objectives, critical assets and business processes, threat sources, risk assessment, functional security contours, managerial instruments, and performance monitoring. A closed management cycle of identification, assessment, prevention, response, recovery and adaptation is substantiated as a mechanism for feedback and organizational learning. It is argued that system effectiveness should be assessed not only by loss reduction but also by a business’s ability to maintain continuity, restore critical processes, and adapt to changes in the digital environment. The proposed approach shifts economic security from a predominantly protective function to an integrated managerial capability that supports resilience and sustainable business development. Keywords: business economic security, digital transformation, digitalization, digital risks, cybersecurity, risk management, resilience, business processes.