Survey indicates overconfidence may be putting
organizations at higher risk for attacks
TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2017 /CNW/ - A new security survey
from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) finds that in the past twelve months,
roughly one in three targeted attacks resulted in an actual
security breach, which equates to three effective attacks per month
for the average Canadian company. Still, about two-thirds of
Canadians surveyed are confident in their ability to protect their
enterprises from cyberattacks.
In the report titled "Building Confidence: Facing the
Cybersecurity Conundrum", Accenture surveyed 2,000 enterprise
security practitioners, including 124 in Canada, representing companies with annual
revenues of $1 billion or more in 15
countries about their perceptions of cyber risks, the effectiveness
of current security efforts and the adequacy of existing
investments. The survey reveals that the length of time taken to
detect these security breaches often compounds the problem, as more
than half of Canadian executives (52 percent) disclose
that it takes months to detect sophisticated breaches, and as many
as a third of all successful breaches are not discovered at all by
the security team.
"Cyberattacks are a constant operational reality across every
industry today and our survey reveals that catching criminal
behavior requires more than the best practices and perspectives of
the past. There needs to be a fundamentally different approach to
security protection starting with identifying and prioritizing key
company assets across the entire value chain," said Russell Thomas, Canadian cybersecurity lead for
Accenture. "It is also clear that the need for organizations to
take a comprehensive end-to-end approach to digital security — one
that integrates cyber defense deeply into the enterprise — has
never been greater."
What has Been Done in the Past is not Working
Out with the old and in with the new is easier said than done,
especially when it comes to embracing new technologies or cyber
defense tools.
- While Canadian survey respondents say internal breaches have
the greatest impact, 62 percent prioritize heightened
capabilities in perimeter-based controls instead of pivoting to
address high-impact internal threats.
- Research findings further show that most Canadian companies do
not have effective technology in place to monitor for cyberattacks
and are focused on risks and outcomes that have not kept pace with
the threat.
- Slightly less than one-third (29 percent) of Canadian
respondents say they are competent in business-relevant threat
monitoring; 52 percent are confident in their ability to monitor
for breaches, and 48 percent say the same about minimizing
disruptions.
Getting Smarter about Security Spending
Recent high-profile cyberattacks have driven significant
increases in cybersecurity awareness and spending. Yet, the
sentiment among those surveyed suggests Canadian organizations will
continue to pursue the same countermeasures instead of investing in
new and different security controls to mitigate threats.
- For example, given extra budget, 46 percent to 54
percent of Canadian respondents would "double down" on their
current cybersecurity spending priorities – even though those
investments have not significantly deterred regular and ongoing
breaches.
- These priorities for Canadian companies include protecting the
company's reputation (54 percent), safeguarding company
information (56 percent), and protecting customer data
(50 percent). Compared to the global average, Canadian
companies exhibit higher confidence in their ability to perform
every capability.
- Far fewer Canadian companies would invest the extra funds in
efforts that would directly affect their bottom line, such as
mitigating against financial losses (20 percent) or
investing in cybersecurity training (22 percent).
Key country highlights from the report include:
- Overall, it takes longer to spot a breach in the US and the UK
with over a quarter of organizations taking a year or more to
detect a successful attack. (30 percent in the US; 26
percent in the UK).
- Organizations in Canada (52
percent), Germany (52
percent) and the UK (50 percent) are the most confident
in monitoring for breaches compared to the global average (38
percent).
- Organizations in France,
Australia and the US are among the
least confident in their ability to monitor for a breach compared
to the global average.
- Organizations in France spend
the most (9.4 percent) of their total IT budget on
cybersecurity compared to the global average of 8.2 percent.
Organizations in Canada are among
those who spend the lowest amount of their IT budget on
cybersecurity (7.3 percent).
For more information on steps organizations can take to
effectively deal with cyber threats, visit:
www.accenture.com/cybersecurityreport.
Accenture Security helps organizations build
resilience from the inside out, so they can confidently
focus on innovation and growth. Leveraging its global network of
cybersecurity labs, deep industry understanding across client value
chains and services that span the security lifecycle, Accenture
protects organization's valuable assets, end-to-end. With services
that include strategy and risk management, cyber defense,
digital identity, application security and managed security,
Accenture enables businesses around the world to defend against
known sophisticated threats, and the unknown. Follow us
@AccentureSecure on Twitter or visit the Accenture Security
blog.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global
professional services company, providing a broad range of services
and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and
operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills
across more than 40 industries and all business functions –
underpinned by the world's largest delivery network – Accenture
works at the intersection of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for
their stakeholders. With more than 394,000 people serving clients
in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve
the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
SOURCE Accenture