Radware Survey- Cybersecurity is a Shared Responsibility

Flourishing businesses are often driven by crucial decisions. The people responsible for such decisions must evaluate a plethora of variables in order to achieve the best results. As the nature of digital space evolves in complexity, the associated cybersecurity risks also grow in enormous scales. Competent organizations have started to apprehend the necessity of information security and even their top-level executives are proactively engaging in stimulating their cybersecurity front to align with their business objectives.

Every year, cybersecurity solution provider Radware publishes the key findings from a survey of top executives from countries across the globe. This year also, the company surveyed more than 260 executives from various worldwide organizations to assess their perception about the importance of cybersecurity.

Let us have a look at some of the major takeaways from the Radware 2019 C-suite Perspectives Report:

Security Issues Obstruct Business Performance, Damage Revenue: Executives

C-suite executives now boldly accept the detrimental impacts of cyber attacks and the levels of financial and social damage they can cause. During the survey, the executives were asked to rank the major impacts of cybersecurity incidents on business performance.

The four main business impacts were found to be customer loss (45%), brand reputation loss (44%), revenue loss (42%), and other operational losses (32%). The average cost of an attack also increased from $3 million to $4.6 million.

Cybersecurity Is Now A Shared Responsibility

Remarkably, the C-suite executives have started to direct their attention towards information security and are playing a pivotal role in coming up with cybersecurity strategies.

Almost 98% of the senior executives claimed some sort of management responsibility when it came to resolving cybersecurity issues. The liability which was earlier spearheaded by the CIOs and CTOs of the companies is now being shared throughout the C-suite and 82% of the CEOs and 72% of the other C-level title holders now claim to have high knowledge and a better understanding of the topic.

C-suite Recognizes Information Security as a Major Competitive Advantage

By intensifying their focus on securing digital assets, organizations can successfully leverage the resulting benefits and establish cybersecurity as a principal market advantage over their competitors. The recognition of cybersecurity as a key business driver can be gauged from the fact that around 72% of the surveyed executives now discuss information security at every board meeting.

Is Becoming A Part Of Key Marketing Strategies

With their crucial information at stake, modern-day customers want to ensure that businesses are taking concrete steps to secure the offered products and services. According to the Radware research, organizations are now taking steps to attract customers by bragging about their cybersecurity readiness and demonstrating to customers why they can be trusted.

75% of the executives said that they promoted the security features of their products and services via marketing messages. On the other hand, around 50% of the C-suite moguls offered exclusive products and services dedicated to security and another 41% had major security features built directly into their products.

Hackers Are Gaining Ground: Executives Accept The Threat

With each passing day, the nature and scale of security incidents intensify as hackers continue to find notorious ways to breach into systems. Most of the executives accept this fact and are ready to roll up their sleeves and bring a fundamental change in the way security issues are addressed. Despite a surge in resource allocation and investments on cybersecurity, 67% of the executives feel that hackers can still breach their security systems and another 27% said that their mobile apps were attacked on a daily basis. Moreover, 50% of the respondents also reported GDPR related issues.

Two Faces Of Public Clouds: Necessary, But Vulnerable

Public clouds are known to enhance customer experience and business agility. But as these cloud-based assets grow in complexity, they become even more vulnerable to cyber threats. According to the report, almost 3 out of every 5 respondents expressed concern regarding issues related to the security of their cloud networks. The major reasons behind such concerns were employee negligence (41%), hackers making it through the company’s security (31%), or instances when an insider left a way in (21%). Even with these concerns, the organizations continue to move their data and apps to more and more cloud servers.

Improving Information Security Is Now A Top Business Goal

Each year, the Radware survey asks the C-suite executives what their main goals are when they plan to integrate improved technologies into their operational frameworks. Improvement in information security emerged as the primary goal this year as 54% of the senior executives viewed it as the leading driver behind business transformation. Also, 38% of the respondents considered business efficiency as the next best driver.

MUST READ: Reasons Why Businesses Should Adopt Critical Security Testing 

Some other insights from the Radware report are:

  • 2 in 5 executives reported relying on security vendors to keep their security frontier up to date.
  • After a data breach incident, it took an average investment of 100,000 USD/ GBP/ EUR to win back a customer.
  • 4 out of every 10 executives accepted that their own personal information was also exposed during a data breach.
  • Bots reduced website revenues by holding up inventory in 53% of the cases.

It is more than obvious now that cybersecurity is not just a function of the IT departments of organizations and higher levels of management must come forward and recognize its significance. Despite the promising intent shown by the C-suite executives, there are certain hurdles which still remain in the way. Proper investments should be made to enhance the cybersecurity infrastructure and security features must be integrated during the initial phases of product development itself. And without a doubt, the executives must be the ones leading the way.

 

Published on Jul 16, 2019
Harshit Agarwal
Written by Harshit Agarwal
Harshit Agarwal is the co-founder and CEO of Appknox, a mobile security suite that helps enterprises automate mobile security. Over the last decade, Harshit has worked with 500+ businesses ranging from top financial institutions to Fortune 100 companies, helping them enhance their security measures.
Beyond the tech world, Harshit loves adventure. When he's not busy making sure the digital realm is safe, he's out trekking and exploring new destinations.

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