Despite 95 percent of CIOs expecting cyber threats to increase over the next three years, only 65 percent of their organizations currently have a cyber security expert, according to a survey from Gartner.
Gartner's 2018 CIO Agenda Survey gathered data from 3,160 CIO respondents in 98 countries and across major industries, representing approximately $13 trillion in revenue/public sector budgets and $277 billion in IT spending.
The survey indicates that cyber security remains a source of deep concern for organizations. Many cyber criminals not only operate in ways that enterprises struggle to anticipate, but also demonstrate a readiness to adapt to changing environments, according to Rob McMillan, research director at Gartner.
"In a twisted way, many cyber criminals are digital pioneers, finding ways to leverage big data and web-scale techniques to stage attacks and steal data," said Mr. McMillan. "CIOs can't protect their organizations from everything, so they need to create a sustainable set of controls that balances their need to protect their business with their need to run it."
35 percent of survey respondents indicate that their organization has already invested in and deployed some aspect of digital security, while an additional 36 percent are actively experimenting or planning to implement in the short term. Gartner predicts that 60 percent of security budgets will be in support of detection and response capabilities by 2020.
"Taking a risk-based approach is imperative to set a target level of cyber security readiness," Mr. McMillan said. "Raising budgets alone doesn't create an improved risk posture. Security investments must be prioritized by business outcomes to ensure the right amount is spent on the right things."
Business growth introduces new attack vectors
According to the survey, many CIOs consider growth and market share as the top-ranked business priority for 2018. Growth often means more diverse supplier networks; different ways of working, funding models and patterns of technology investing; as well as different products, services and channels to support.
"The bad news is that cyber security threats will affect more enterprises in more diverse ways that are difficult to anticipate," Mr. McMillan said. "While the expectation of a more dangerous environment is hardly news to the informed CIO, these growth factors will introduce new attack vectors and new risks that they're not accustomed to addressing."
