Uphill battle for cybersecurity pros

An online survey of more than 400 IT cybersecurity professionals revealed threat detection as the top cybersecurity challenge among 62 percent of those surveyed. ControlScan, in partnership with Crowd Research Partners and the Information Security Community on LinkedIn, conducted the in-depth survey and published findings in the 2017 Threat Monitoring, Detection and Response Report.

"This new research report is timely, because it shows that organizations are missing important opportunities to detect cybersecurity threats before they become business disruptors," said Mark Carl, Chief Executive Officer at ControlScan. "A big part of the problem is that in-house IT teams lack the necessary manpower and, in many cases, the specialized knowledge to effectively defend against today's attacks."

In fact, among those surveyed, 49 percent cited employee lack of cybersecurity skills and/or training as an organizational shortcoming, only 39 percent of the firms deployed advanced endpoint security to combat ransomware, and 23 percent of those surveyed were unsure how long it would take for their organization to recover from a cyber attack.

Sobering statistics, encouraging developments

The report statistics were sobering, especially when ransomware, phishing attacks and attendant data loss were tagged as the top three security threats by IT pros surveyed and the level of concern about threat in each of these categories has risen sharply within the past six months. Insider threat due to careless behavior on network systems was credited for inadvertent data breaches or compromises at 64 percent of the firms surveyed.

Lack of budget (51 percent) and lack of skilled personnel and security awareness (49 percent) may be nothing new, as indicated in previous ControlScan surveys, but organizations that remain complacent face increasingly advanced risks, researchers noted.

The survey did find that a large percentage of organizations are currently using threat intelligence platforms, with 57 percent using one or more commercial threat intelligence providers, and 47 percent using open source platforms, respondents stated. Among the firms with such platforms in place, 49 percent reported a reduction in security breaches.

To reduce security vulnerabilities moving forward, hiring advanced security staff, offering employee security awareness training and deploying systems that reduce response time were identified as critical areas for improvement by survey participants.

"The cybersecurity threat landscape is rapidly advancing and organizations must shore up their threat management efforts to effectively address it," said Holger Schulze, founder of the Information Security Community on LinkedIn.

Editorial Note:

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