INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security
N
ew research from Fortinet,
the provider of cyber security
solutions, has revealed cyber
security strategies of IT decision
makers (ITDMs) at 250+ employee
organisations across EMEA :
A. 48% claim the best response
to increased security breaches
is to invest in new cyber security
technologies that provide protection
across the entire threat lifecycle.
B. The two greatest concerns of
ITDMs were securing the cloud and
protecting against vulnerabilities in
IT systems:
- Securing the cloud: 53% for
the region and 61% of Spanish
respondents – the highest in EMEA
- Protecting against vulnerabilities in
IT systems: 53% for the region and
59% of Italian respondents
However, many see increased security
breaches as a catalyst for outsourcing
cyber security functions to a managed
security service provider (MSSP). In
all, the research found that within
three-five years, 44% of EMEA
organisations could be addressing
their cyber security priorities through
outsourcing. The forecast for cyber
security outsourcing adoption is
highest in Germany (where a 14% of
all organisations will make the switch)
and slowest in Spain (4%).
“Our independent study highlights the
urgent need among enterprise-scale
organisations from all sectors in EMEA
to prioritise end-to-end cyber security
protection with actionable, threat
intelligence capabilities in the face of
new digital business challenges,” said
Patrice Perche, senior Vice President
Worldwide Sales & Support, Fortinet.
“Enterprises need to respond more
rapidly and effectively to security
breaches by investing in integrated,
adaptive cybersecurity architectures
for the borderless network.”
The survey examined the response
tactics of those affected by cyber
64
INTELLIGENTCIO
However, many see
increased security
breaches as a catalyst
for outsourcing cyber
security functions to
a managed security
service provider
(MSSP).
attacks to illustrate how present
security infrastructures have struggled
to contend with the realities of an
increasingly digital world. Of the half
(52%) of all EMEA IT decision makers
in the survey who reported a security
breach in the last year, only 16% of
them realised this within minutes of
the breach occurring.
In some sectors, such as healthcare,
it took 50% of respondents days,
months or even years to spot
breaches.
Such a deficiency in rapid, effective
threat identification and response is
proven to be highly costly to breached
organisations as sensitive data is lost,
systems are compromised and brand
reputation is damaged.
The survey found that, to mitigate
these attacks and better protect
their organisations, the number one
action undertaken by ITDMs is the
use of threat detection technologies
(17%), closely followed by cloudbased cyber security services (12%).
Such capabilities are underpinned
by the provision of actionable threat
intelligence.
EMEA respondents cited ‘improved
prevention of attacks’ as the greatest
powered by
value of threat intelligence (43%),
followed by ‘improved information
security strategy’ (38 %) and
‘improved detection of breaches’
(35%).
In terms of how and where new
threat intelligence capabilities may
be applied, 35% of those asked said
they had their own threat research/
incident response team monitoring
all security activity in place today,
though the number is only 26% in
Italy compared to 42% in Germany.
Meanwhile, 26% of respondents
claimed to outsource their cyber
threat intelligence to a managed
security service provider; of those
respondents 22% in Spain and 31%
in the UK outsource their threat
intelligence.
“IT decision makers understandably
want more resources to combat
threats from all directions, but the
answer doesn’t have to come in the
form of spending more or ripping
and replacing existing solutions,”
said Alain Penel, Regional Vice
President – Middle East, Fortinet.
“Fortinet’s open, adaptive security
fabric shows how enterprises can
achieve true end-to-end protection
with security capabilities that share
intelligence across the entire attack
surface. We are unique in providing
the same breadth of capability and
performance whether enterprises
choose to retain in-house control of
their own cyber security infrastructure,
or use the services of an MSSP partner
from our growing global community.”
Note on survey methodology
The 2016 Fortinet Global Security
Survey was a research exercise
undertaken on behalf of Fortinet
by independent market research
company Lightspeed GMI. The
survey involved 1,399 qualified IT
decision makers in 13 countries
– predominantly CIOs, CTOs, IT
Directors and Heads of IT – from
organisations larger than 250
employees.
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