The Rising Importance of Cybersecurity
As cyber threats evolve, they become increasingly difficult to detect. They’re also becoming more expensive: Globally, the average cost of a data breach in 2023 was USD 4.45 million, which represents a 15% increase over three years.
As a result, implementing a robust cybersecurity strategy has become a key priority: 72% of executives across a diverse set of sectors, including finance/banking, tech, manufacturing, industrial, and business services, say they consider it a top strategic goal for 2024, according to a recent survey conducted by Gatepoint Research.
Satisfaction with MDR Providers
Overall satisfaction levels with MDR providers are low, with only 28% of executives saying they are completely satisfied. The reason behind this seems clear: Many MDR services are outdated and cannot address the complexity of today’s threats.
While MDR services can provide valuable security expertise, the need for extensive manual input from in-house security teams can be time-consuming and impede efficiency. Consider solutions that minimize manual intervention to maximize productivity.
By forgoing MDR services, many organizations leave themselves vulnerable. This can result in undetected security breaches, which can have severe financial repercussions and cause noncompliance issues.
Challenges to Security Team Productivity
Security teams often find themselves overwhelmed, with limited bandwidth to focus on strategic security initiatives. Sixty-four percent of executives reported that this was a problem. A lack of budget to expand the teams was the second biggest challenge. Just under half (46%) of executives reported that this was an issue.
Staff shortages caused by these challenges leave teams overstretched, hindering their ability to monitor for potential cyber risks. Consequently, employees frequently overlook potential cybersecurity issues until they snowball into significant problems. By this point, these issues require substantial amounts of time and money to fix.
Other issues reported by executives included lack of a talent pipeline (35%), the inability to offer competitive compensation (13%), and lack of management support (11%).
Confidence in Security Posture and Cybersecurity Challenges
Executives’ confidence levels in their organizational security postures are low. Only 27% said they are completely confident in their organization’s overall security posture.
Many organizations still do not prioritize cybersecurity. It can feel like there is always a more urgent issue to address — until a successful cyber attack wreaks havoc. This lack of urgency makes it difficult to address the evolving complexity and sophistication of attacks.
Furthermore, many organizations are still using outdated infrastructure. Many do not have the correct training programs in place to educate employees about how to spot an attack.
Strategic Implications and Future Directions
This research shows that assessing, monitoring, and managing cyber risk is a key priority for executives. However, many of them still have a long way to go.
Almost half (45%) of executives say that the complex cyber landscape and pace of technology change are the greatest security challenges they face. Meanwhile, 29% say their biggest challenge is the increasing sophistication and frequency of attacks.
One key way that organizations can address these challenges is by working with a modern MDR provider. Doing so can provide advanced protection and increase confidence in organizational security postures without hindering productivity.
Stay Ahead of Threats by Working with an MDR Provider
As we move further into 2024, cybersecurity will remain a key priority for organizations. To remain resilient against threats, working with an advanced MDR provider and adopting robust cybersecurity strategies is essential.
Schedule a meeting with the CyberMaxx team to address these challenges
