BY Richard Summerfield
According to a report from Crossword Cybersecurity Plc, 61 percent of chief information security officers (CISOs) are only ‘fairly confident’ of managing their current threat exposure to cyber risks.
The report, ‘Strategy and collaboration: a better way forward for effective cybersecurity’, surveyed of over 200 CISOs and senior UK cyber security professionals. Many respondents identified the ‘perfect storm’ of escalating cyber attacks combined with global tech innovation which is causing cyber security professionals to be less confident of the adequacy of their cyber security provisions. Based on the findings, there is concern that cyber security strategies are not able to keep pace with the rate of tech innovation and changes in the threat landscape.
“The picture painted by our research shows CISOs are in urgent need of a strategic rethink,” said Stuart Jubb, group managing director at Crossword Cybersecurity plc. “CISOs need to balance their cybersecurity operation’s daily load with managing the organisation’s long-term requirements. Boards must make sure CISOs have the budget necessary to get short-term issues under control and then begin planning a long-term business-wide strategy. Such a strategy should be supported by a standard operating model with robust processes and policies for the company’s entire supply chain. Every month of delay leaves businesses open to potentially crippling cyberattacks.”
Crossword also asked CISOs about the technology trends they saw as being the most important and relevant over the next 12 months. Several technology categories stood out, with cloud transition and cyber in the cloud leading the way (41 percent), followed by cyber security mesh architecture (CSMA) (35 percent) and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (31 percent).
Respondents also identified a number of other areas of high priority going forward, including closing the cyber skills gap, which can see IT and cyber security teams become quickly overwhelmed if the right expertise is not in place to manage the load, the challenge of gaining consistent and reliable ‘threat intelligence’, and securing digital identity. Respondents were divided over how to address these and other issues, particularly with respect to companies’ short-term cyber goals and the longer-term strategy of many UK organisations.
Report: Strategy and collaboration: a better way forward for effective cybersecurity