Cyber security
IT Pros on Security: The Good, Bad and Scary
Many security pros say cyber-attacks can be identified and deflected at their organizations, yet they also say the threat of attacks is escalating.
Feeling Safe
50% of respondents said they would have considered their organizations very or extremely vulnerable three years ago. Currently, only 27% believe their organizations are very or extremely vulnerable.
Government Participation
86% believe that cooperation between government agencies and private companies for infrastructure protection is critical for a successful cyber-defense while 68% believe their own government can be a valuable partner in cyber-security.
Top Obstacles
The top three obstacles to greater public-private cooperation are a lack of budget, different approaches to cyber-attacks and a lack of other resources.
A Call for More Partnerships
Respondents consider cooperation with their own government (76%), other similar organizations (74%) and other governments (70%) important.
Troubling Stats
48% believe it is likely that a cyber-attack will take down critical infrastructure with the potential loss of life within the next three years.
Good Security
However, 64% of respondents believe an attack resulting in fatalities has not yet happened because good IT security is in place.
Satisfactory Performance
84% of respondents are satisfied or extremely satisfied with the performance of their endpoint protection as well as network firewalls (84%) and secure Web gateways (85%).
Confidence Rules
Nearly 75% of respondents are confident or extremely confident in their organization’s ability to identify cyber-attacks while 68% are confident in their ability to mitigate attacks and 65% are confident that they can deflect them.
Escalating Threats
72% said the threat level of cyber-attacks was escalating while only 4% think they are declining.
Growing Attacks
89% of respondents experienced at least one attack on secure systems over the past year, with a median of close to 20 attacks per year.
Confirmed Damage
More than 59% of confirmed cyber-attacks resulted in physical damage, service disruption (more than 33%) and data compromise (more than 25%).
National Defense
76% of respondents believe a national defense force should respond when a cyber-attack damages a critical infrastructure company in national borders.