Organizations are employing cyber-resilient strategies in new ways

Wipro released its 2019 State of Cybersecurity Report, which highlights the rising importance of cybersecurity defense to global leaders, the emergence of the CISO as a C-Suite role, and an unprecedented focus on security as a pervasive part of the business operations.

The study found that one in five CISOs are now reporting directly to the CEO, 15% of organizations have a security budget of more than 10% of their overall IT budgets, 65% of organizations are tracking and reporting regulatory compliance, and 25% of organizations are carrying out security assessments in every build cycle. In addition, 39% of organizations now have a dedicated cyber insurance policy. All of these points showed dramatic increases from previous years.

Additional findings

The annual study is based on three months of primary and secondary research, including surveys of security leadership, operational analysts, and 211 global organizations across 27 countries.

Additional highlights from the report:

• More data exposed, yet a decline in the number of publicly disclosed breaches. While the number of significant publicly reported breaches decreased by 25%, the number of records exposed during attacks increased by 164% to 232 records exposed per second. Attackers also targeted more specific information perceived to have higher monetary value: 38% of the data records breached/targeted were a combination of personally identifiable information and security credentials such as passwords.
• Cryptominers are the new big threat. Cryptominer malware surged to become the new emerging threat: 25% of global organizations were targeted by Coinhive malware alone in 2018. 80% of all cryptomining attacks originated from just three sources: Coinhive, Cryptoloot, and JSEcoin. Ransomware attacks by contrast declined in 2018.

Yet organizations are aligning themselves to cyber-resilient strategies in new ways:

• Cloud and IoT security strategies on the radar. With cloud and IoT adoption on the rise, 28% of organizations perceive cloud account hijacking as one of the top security threats to their cloud environments. 26% of organizations are prioritizing security assessment of IoT devices to mitigate new risks.
• Collective wisdom trumps learning in isolation: 67% of organizations are now willing to share indicators of compromise (malicious IPs, URLs, domains), and 33% of organizations are willing to share attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures with industry peers. Information sharing and timely threat intelligence have become critical enablers in anticipating and mitigating new and developing attacks.
• More pervasive approach to protection. 39% of organizations now have a dedicated cyber insurance policy, up by 12% from 2017; 28% of organizations participate in cyberattack simulation exercises coordinated by industry regulators; and 1 in 4 organizations now carry out security assessments in every build cycle.

“With organizations riding the digital wave, security strategies need to be enhanced to address the changing landscape and enable a smooth and safe transition,” says Raja Ukil, Global Head for Cybersecurity & Risk Services, Wipro Limited.

“Security is also evolving to be a pervasive part of core business operations, and countries are establishing active cyber defense strategies and functions to foster partnerships with the private sector enterprises and with other countries. Amidst growing threats, leaders are collaborating more than ever before in new and innovative ways to mitigate the risks.”