Cybersecurity is now high on many organizations’ boardroom agendas, but most chief information security officers (CISOs) have yet to earn a seat at the table. According to a study by ISACA and RSA Conference, 82 percent of cybersecurity and information security professionals polled in the survey report that their board of directors is concerned or very concerned about cybersecurity, but only 1 in 7 (14 percent) CISOs reports to the CEO.
This gap between belief and actions at the highest levels of management is playing out in an environment where 74 percent of security professionals expect a cyberattack in 2016 and 30 percent experience phishing attacks every day, according to the ISACA/RSA Conference State of Cybersecurity study.
The cybersecurity skills gap poses its own threat to keeping an enterprise safe. The past year saw a 12-point drop in the percentage of security professionals who are confident in their team’s ability to detect and respond to incidents, dipping from 87 percent in 2014 to 75 percent in 2015. Among those 75 percent, 6 in 10 do not believe their staff can handle anything beyond simple cybersecurity incidents. In addition, the number who say that fewer than half of job candidates were considered ‘qualified upon hire’ has risen from 50 percent to 59 percent in a year. Twenty-seven percent need six months to fill a cybersecurity position, up three points from 2014.
The State of Cybersecurity study also looked at perceived connections between risk and two emerging industry trends: artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things. Rather than viewing deep-thinking machines as their ally in detecting and combating cyberattacks, respondents believe that AI will increase risk in both the short (42 percent) and long (62 percent) term. Less surprising was that more than half (53 percent) of respondents are concerned or very concerned that the Internet of Things will expand attack surfaces further and exacerbate cyber risk.
The survey also highlighted a marked lack of situational awareness for professionals who report that cybersecurity or information security is their primary role:
* 24 percent did not know if any user credentials were stolen in 2015;
* 24 percent did not know which threat actors exploited their organizations;
* 23 percent did not know whether their organization had experienced an advanced persistent threat (APT) attack;
* 20 percent did not know whether any corporate assets were hijacked for botnet use.
Among those surveyed, 61 percent expect their cybersecurity budget to increase in 2016 and 75 percent say their organization’s cybersecurity strategy now aligns to enterprise objectives.
Survey methodology
The annual State of Cybersecurity study is based on online polling of 461 professionals around the world whose primary job function is cybersecurity or information security. These were drawn from an overall sample of 842 professionals who hold ISACA’s Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) or CSX Practitioner designations or are RSA Conference constituents. The survey was conducted between November and December 2015 and has a margin of error of +/-3.5 percent.
Visit www.isaca.org/state-of-cybersecurity-2016 to see the full results.
