The report reveals that many organizations are still unprepared to handle advanced cyber threats. It also shows that many leaders don’t realize the fact that a data breach which leads to the loss of confidential data can have a negative impact on revenue.
The numbers from the report show that 57% of the respondents don’t think their networks and systems are protected against advanced cyber threats. Furthermore, 63% admit that they can’t stop cybercriminals from stealing confidential information.
44% of those who took part in the survey admitted that their organizations experienced one or more serious cyberattacks in the past year. Close to 70% of them believe the attackers leveraged “the cracks” in their existing security systems.
Unfortunately, over half of the companies still don’t have proper intelligence mechanisms in place, and in many cases the security solutions they’re using don’t inform them of the root causes of an attack.
A total of 80% believe their company’s executives don’t see the loss of confidential data as something that can result in loss of revenue. Almost half of respondents say board-level executives don’t understand security issues as well as they should.
When it comes to cybercriminal activity, only 41% of organizations feel they have a good understanding of the threats they face. 37% are certain that their companies lost sensitive information as a result of an attack, but 35% of these respondents don’t know what the cybercriminals stole.
“While there are significant differences among countries for specific questions (such as availability of cyber attack intelligence), the overall analysis indicates that a majority of security professionals do not feel adequately armed to defend their organizations from threats,” explained Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.
“This challenge is further compounded by a perception that company leaders do not believe that data breaches will lead to loss of revenue. Our research has shown this is simply untrue.”
The complete ““Exposing the Cybersecurity Cracks: A Global Perspective” report is available for download on Websense’s website (registration required). Those who took part in the survey have, on average, 10 years of experience in the field. They’re located in Australia, Canada, the US, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, Sweden, Singapore, China, India, and Hong Kong.
