Privileged access management (PAM) vendor Delinea shares three key takeaways concerning future-proofing organizations’ cybersecurity posture from a survey it conducted of 300 IT decision-makers (ITDMs).
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare, social, and economic affairs and sent the cybersecurity industry into firefighting mode. It spotlighted a gaping hole in the security practices and blew open the below-par cybersecurity fabric of organizations in the face of uncertainty. Delinea found that two out of three companies admit to being victims of cyber attacks. Clearly, more needs to be done.
Future-proofing the security posture to counter cyberattacks without impacting day-to-day enterprise operations should be the end goal. Organizations need to implement a security strategy that supports future growth while absorbing the shock and stress of rapidly changing technology and business conditions.
The challenge is quite stiff, considering the emergence and adoption of technologies such as the network edge, hybrid or multi-cloud environments, etc. As a result,
- In 2021, CheckPoint discovered that there were 50% more attack attempts per week on corporate networks globally in the calendar year 2021 vs. 2020
- IDC said 98% of companies experienced at least one cloud data breach over 18 months
- Ransomware peaked at an all-time high in 2020 (291% growth vs. 2019), and then some in 2021 (29% growth vs. 2020)
To understand how organizations can attain the desired level of cybersecurity, Delinea delves into what ITDMs have to say. The cloud security company surveyed ITDMs and shared insights on future-proofing respective security undertakings.
Cloud Automation
Perhaps the most important finding is that cloud automation is viewed as most favorable to future-proof access management. Businesses want to shed manual, time-consuming controls and embrace automation and integration.
Source: DelineaOpens a new window
As such, 86% of IT decision-makers are figuring out how to automate access controls, including those for privileged access. “Rather than forcing people to learn how to use more systems, security technology should be moved behind the scenes as much as possible — integrated with workflow tools people use every day,†Delinea said.
See More: What Is a Cloud Access Security Broker? Definition, Pillars, Architecture, and Uses
Security Staff and Budget
Security budgets are on the rise. Almost 70% of respondents said their organizations’ security budget and staff increased. Yet, existing organizational security is still short-staffed, which significantly hinders future-proofing.
The International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² found that the Cybersecurity Workforce Gap decreased to 2.72 millionOpens a new window in 2021 compared to 3.12 million last year. But there’s still a considerable gap. According to the World Economic Forum, the global cybersecurity workforce needs to grow by 65%Opens a new window to eliminate the shortage.
Barriers to Future-Proofing Security | Source: Delinea
Additionally, nearly a third of respondents said company executives are short-sighted and are unsupportive of future-proofing cybersecurity investments.
Security Overconfidence
Despite what cyber threat numbers from the last two years suggest, respondents are confident of their organizations’ cybersecurity prowess. 71% of ITDMs are optimistic they can quickly recover from a cyberattack.
83% of respondents are confident their current access control security meets business needs. Meanwhile, 69% of respondents think their current privileged access approach is either very mature or mature.
Additionally, 89% of respondents monitor and believe their organizations can alert on unauthorized privileged activity. “It’s likely that organizations may not consider all types of privileged access risk that opens the door to cyberattacks,†Delinea said.
“A more detailed report of privileged access management maturity indicates that most companies are at a basic level of maturity. They don’t meet compliance requirements, have advanced behavioral analytics, or use just-in-time access controls to meet least privilege principles and zero trust best practices,†the company added.
Note: Delinea’s report is based on responses of more than 300 IT business decision-makers through a survey conducted in February 2022.
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