EDITOR’S QUESTION
WITH RECENT NEWS OF
HEIGHTENED SECURITY
BREACHES, WHAT MORE CAN
BE DONE BY COMPANIES TO
SECURE THEIR NETWORKS
AND IS ANTI-VIRUS
SOFTWARE STILL PLAYING
CATCH-UP TO SOPHISTICATED
INTRUDERS?
T
he analyst group IDC reported
that in the Middle East,
a lack of adherence to IT
security policies by employees was
the number one challenge faced by IT
professionals, followed by the threat of
increasingly sophisticated attacks.
The analysts said that with the
combined growth of mobile devices
used in the workplace that require
securing, the increasing sophistication
of threats and the (albeit it slow when
compared to Europe and the US)
growth of cloud services, organisations
in the region are beginning to change
their security strategy, turning to
managed security services.
The amount of money spent on IT
security is growing at 15% a year, IDC
said, and in some cases, companies
are spending big to protect their
networks; the Industrial Internet of
Things (IoT) is revolutionising how
sensors and controllers are made and
connected. The devices are becoming
more capable and more intelligent.
Whether it is the private sector or
the public sector, security concerns
and subsequent security spending
is spiralling upwards. Regional
governments see cyber-crime as a
growing threat and together are set to
invest heavily on cyber security over the
next four years, according to experts.
An industry on the rise, a recent
report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers
indicated a staggering 42.8 million
information security incidents reported
globally in 2014, up 48% from the
previous year.
A recent MarketsandMarkets report
estimates that regional governments
will spend upwards of $9.5 billion on
cyber security by 2019 as governments
and enterprises collaborate to
implement strict laws and regulations
for securing networks.
RSA, the Security Division of EMC,
released its inaugural Cybersecurity
Poverty Index that compiled survey results
from more than 400 security professionals
across 61 countries. The survey allowed
participants to self-assess the maturity of
their cyber security programs leveraging
the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)
as the measuring stick.
$9.5 billion
Regional
governments
will spend
on cyber
security by
2019
(Source: MarketsandMarkets Report)
Further, the greatest weakness of the
organisations surveyed is the ability
to measure, assess and mitigate
cyber security risk with 45% of those
surveyed describing their capabilities in
this area as “non-existent,” or “ad hoc,”
and only 21% reporting that they are
mature in this domain.
This shortfall makes it difficult or
impossible to prioritise security activity
and investment, a foundational activity
for any organisation looking to improve
their security capabilities today.
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