 "Corporate data theft, malware attacks among biggest threats to digital businesses")
Insider data theft and malware attacks have emerged as one of the biggest threats for enterprises, which are going digital, said a new report by Accenture and HfS Research on Tuesday.
The report 'The State of Cybersecurity and Digital Trust 2016' surveyed more than 200 C-level security executives and other information technology professionals across a range of vertical industry sectors and geographies including North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific (APAC) and Latin America.
Almost 7 out of 10 respondents (69%) said they experienced an attempted or successful theft or corruption of data by insiders during the prior 12 months, the report noted. Of all the enterprises across verticals media and technology organisations reporting the highest rate (77%).
"This insider risk will continue to be an issue, with security professionals’ concerns over insider theft of corporate information alone rising by nearly two-thirds over the coming 12 to 18 months," the report noted.
The situation is further worsened by the fact that firms have budget shortage for hiring cyber security talent and well-trained employees, which is hindering the ability of organisations to properly defend themselves against these attacks.
On current funding and staffing levels, while 42% of respondents said they need more budget for hiring cybersecurity professionals and for training, more than half (54%) of respondents indicated that their current employees are under-prepared to prevent security breaches. As per the data collated during the survey, only 47% organisations were able to detect these security breaches, whereas a mere 45% firms responded to such incidents.
These findings indicated significant gaps between talent supply and demand, a disconnect between security teams and management expectations, and considerable disparity between budget needs and actual budget realities.
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“Our research paints a sobering picture. Security leaders believe threats are not going away, in fact they expect them to increase and hinder their ability to safeguard critical data and establish digital trust,” said Kelly Bissell, senior managing director, Accenture Security. “At the same time, while organisations want to invest in advanced cyber technologies, they simply don’t have enough budget to recruit or train skilled people to use that technology effectively."
"To better manage this security problem, businesses will need to work in tandem with the extended enterprise ecosystem – business units, partners, providers and end users – to create an environment of digital trust," added Bissell.
Companies, globally, remain anxious about data theft and malware infections, even as they deploy advance technology solutions to thwart these threats.
"Despite having advanced technology solutions, nearly half of all respondents (48%) indicate they are either strongly or critically concerned about insider data theft and malware infections (42%) in the next 12 to 18 months," the report said.