Cybersecurity Leaders' Crisis: Increasing Pressures and High Costs

Cybersecurity Leaders: Cybersecurity leaders face immense pressure, with 65% of them, or two out of three, fearing direct responsibility in the event of a major data breach. This growing concern makes the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) less attractive, which could lead to increasing difficulty in finding competent individuals to fill these vital security roles within organizations.

Data Breach: A data breach is defined as a security incident in which sensitive or confidential data is accessed, disclosed, destroyed, altered, or stolen without authorization. This can affect users' personal records, financial information, or companies' intellectual property. It often results from vulnerabilities in security systems, phishing attacks, or malware. (Varonis)

The Exorbitant Costs of Cyber Breaches

New Research: New research by Panaseer revealed that the average cost of cyber incidents per affected organization reaches $14 million annually, a sum representing 73% of their security budgets. This figure clearly indicates that current budgets may not be sufficient to effectively protect companies from falling victim to cyberattacks. In increasingly complex systems, Panaseer found that three out of four attacks exploited multiple security control vulnerabilities, with nearly two-thirds of companies reporting that attackers bypassed controls they believed were sufficient to prevent breaches.

The Complexity of the Security Landscape and AI Challenges

The Security Landscape: The security landscape is becoming increasingly complex due to the escalation of Artificial Intelligence-powered threats, with over three-quarters of security leaders (77%) fearing that these threats are evolving faster than security teams can respond. Currently, organizations use an average of 61 security tools and 58 dashboards, and conduct or respond to 28 audits annually, each taking approximately eight days to prepare.

Jonathan Gill: Jonathan Gill, CEO of Panaseer, commented, "The complexity of IT infrastructure, the proliferation of cyber tools, the rapidly evolving threat landscape, and increasing regulatory demands make achieving even the most basic levels of cybersecurity extremely challenging."

IT Infrastructure and Proposed Solutions

Definition of IT Infrastructure: IT Infrastructure is a set of hardware, software, network components, and facilities that support the operation and existence of an organization's information technology environment. This includes servers, workstations, network devices such as routers and switches, as well as databases and application software. (IBM)

Traditional Tools: Although 77% agree that traditional tools are no longer suitable for the current threat landscape, simply increasing the number of tools does not seem to be the optimal solution. Many reported costly audit delays or failures to prove the effectiveness of controls to management. To simplify matters, Panaseer calls for widespread simplification, starting with a single trusted source of true foundational data, and dashboards that speak the language of stakeholders and auditors. Without this, security teams cannot track controls and progress, companies cannot understand risks, and organizations will continue to lose millions due to preventable breaches.