UK C-suite officers state their confidence in national security measures
In spite of the growing number of threats to data security across the UK, British CTOs, CIOs and CISOs have pledged their confidence and faith in their organisational security capabilities.
This was revealed as part of a study conducted by Carbon Black, a cybersecurity firm, which recently published its third UK threat report. The research was compiled after polling 250 CIOs, CTOs and CISOs across the country.
It found that 84 per cent of businesses experienced a data breach over the course of a year, and believed it had experienced an increase in the overall volume of attacks over the span of 12 months. Ninety per cent also believed that the sophistication of the attacks had grown in that period of time.
The head of the security strategy at Carbon Black, Rick McElroy, said: “As we analyse the findings of our third UK Threat Report, it appears businesses are adjusting to the ‘new normal’ of sustained and sophisticated cyberattacks. Greater awareness of external threats and compliance risks have also prompted businesses to become more proactive about managing cyber risks as they witness the financial and reputational impacts that breaches entail.”
Despite this, 76 per cent of those polled vouched for their confidence in the strength and capability of their organisation to protect themselves from data breaches – in comparison to 12 months ago – and 93 per cent planned to increase their expenditure on security infrastructure going forward.
McElroy commented: “As the cyber defence sector continues to mature, businesses are becoming more aware of the tools at their disposal and the tactics they can use to combat cyberattacks. We believe this growing confidence is indicative of a power shift in favour of defenders, who are taking a more proactive approach to hunting out and neutralising threats than previously.”
He warned that phishing attacks were the most prominent cyberattack methods, and stated that matters were likely to further change in the future with the growth of 5G technology and a waning cybersecurity force within organisations.
