A recent Cisco study of over 8,000 private sector security and business leaders from 30 global markets has quantified the concerning lack of readiness among organizations globally, particularly in the UK, to defend against rapidly evolving cyber threats.
According to the research, only 2% of organizations in the UK have the ‘mature’ level of readiness to be resilient against today’s cybersecurity risks, down an alarming 15 percentage points from this time last year.
With a less-than-positive outlook, the report highlights the critical need for change. Seven in 10 businesses estimate that a cybersecurity incident is likely to disrupt their business in the next 12 to 24 months.
Cyber threat readiness is far from ideal
The apprehension is not unfounded, with more than half (54%) already having experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year. Of those, around half (52%) revealed that the cost had exceeded $300,000.
Despite growing awareness of the looming threat, many businesses face challenges in preparing. Cisco noted that an overly complex security landscape has led to organizations employing a multi-point solution, which has slowed down 75% of the respondents’ abilities to detect, respond to, and recover.
Cisco also inadvertently reveals some of the challenges introduced by hybrid working setups, with four in five companies giving workers access to platforms from unmanaged devices and one in four (26%) workers using at least six different networks per week.
Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM of Security and Collaboration at Cisco, commented: “Today’s organizations need to prioritize investments in integrated platforms and lean into AI in order to operate at machine scale and finally tip the scales in the favor of defenders.”
Moreover, it’s clear that efforts to strengthen network security, establish more robust and protective protocols, and shrink the cybersecurity skills gap are needed in order for businesses to address these concerns.
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