Practitioners give global cybersecurity a ‘C’ according to new research
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- Published: Wednesday, 18 November 2015 08:41
Tenable Network Security, Inc., has released findings from its 2016 Global Cybersecurity Assurance Report Card. The Report Card tallied responses from six countries and seven industry verticals, and also calculated a global score reflecting the overall confidence levels of security practitioners that the world’s cyber defences / defences are meeting expectations.
According to survey data, global cybersecurity earned an overall score of 76 percent — an underwhelming ‘C’ average. Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they feel “about the same” or “more pessimistic” about their organizations’ ability to defend against cyber attacks compared to last year. When asked about the biggest challenges facing them today, the practitioners cited an overwhelming threat environment as the biggest challenge, while reporting relative confidence in the effectiveness of cybersecurity products.
Key global findings include:
Cloudy days ahead - Respondents consistently cited cloud applications (graded D+) and cloud infrastructure (D) as two of the three most challenging IT components for assessing cybersecurity risks.
A mobile dilemma - Mobile devices (D) also were reported as particularly challenging when assessing cyber risks. The inability to even detect transient mobile devices in the first place (C) was another big challenge for the world’s security practitioners.
Uninvested board members - On the upside, respondents largely believe they have the tools in place to measure overall security effectiveness (B-) and to convey security risks to executives and board members. On the downside, respondents question whether their executives and board members fully understand those security risks (C+) and are investing enough to mitigate them (C).
Overall Cybersecurity Assurance Report Cards by country:
- Australia: D+ (69 percent)
- Canada: C+ (77 percent)
- Germany: C- (72 percent)
- Singapore: C- (72 percent)
- United Kingdom: C (74 percent)
- United States: B- (80 percent)
Overall Cybersecurity Assurance Report Cards by industry
- Education: D (64 percent)
- Financial Services: B- (81 percent)
- Government: D (66 percent)
- Health Care: C (73 percent)
- Manufacturing: C (76 percent)
- Retail: C+ (77 percent)
- Telecom & Technology: B- (81 percent)
