CISOs believe that the current distributed workforce has increased global cyber-security concerns.
With the pandemic-induced remote working culture, there has been increased pressure on organizations to meet cyber-security demands. The risks involved with emerging technologies have made digital transformation journeys a significant threat for businesses. Business leaders are more concerned about securing the corporate resources, devices, and data in places outside of their control.
Recent research by Skybox Security revealed that nearly 73% of IT and security experts are concerned about new vulnerabilities. The rush toward protecting the workforce and maintaining business productivity has resulted in all-time high vulnerabilities this year. There has been a 34% surge YOY – a prime indicator for the future growth of attacks.
The risks associated with the distributed workforce are immense since a majority of firms were unprepared for remote working operations – leading teams to work on their personal devices. There is an alarming disconnect between the confidence in security setup and growing attacks amid the trying times.
As a result, security teams are now focussed on protecting their corporate resources more than ever. The study found that organizations are hopeful about their security posture; however, this is a need for new strategies to secure a long-term, distributed working model for the next few years.
Read More: Cybersecurity – On Top Priority by IT Leaders for Digital Transformation
Some of the key highlights from the study are –
- Deprioritizing cyber-security measures has increased risk – More than 30% of the security professionals indicated that various software updates and BYOD regulations were deprioritized.
- Many enterprises could not keep up with the pace – Nearly 32% of organizations had difficulties while validating if network and security configurations have undermined security posture. Almost 55% said that it was moderately critical to validate security and network configurations did not increase data risk.
- Security professionals are self-assured for security posture – Only 11% of the respondents indicated that they could maintain a holistic view of their company’s attack surfaces. However, most security experts (93%) were still confident that the security modifications were rightly validated.
- The distributed working model is most likely to persist – Nearly 70% of organizations indicated that at least 33% of their employees will continue to work remotely for 18 months from now.
Read More: Cyber risk increases due to digital transformation
Given the current market scenario, traditional detect-and-respond security approaches are no longer efficient enough for enterprises. Experts noted that a radical, new approach is required –one that is rooted in the evolution of preventative as well as prescriptive vulnerability.
In its essence, the CISOs are increasingly prioritizing advanced threat management practices to combat the growing challenges. To advance this change, both data and talent need to work together towards enriching the security program of a company.
