Businesses compromise on cybersecurity in favor of other goals

90% of IT decision makers claim their business would be willing to compromise on cybersecurity in favor of digital transformation, productivity, or other goals. Additionally, 82% have felt pressured to downplay the severity of cyber risks to their board, a Sapio Reserach report reveals.

“IT leaders are self-censoring in front of their boards for fear of appearing repetitive or too negative, with almost a third claiming this is a constant pressure. But this will only perpetuate a vicious cycle where the C-suite remains ignorant of its true risk exposure,” said Bharat Mistry, UK technical director for Trend Micro.

“We need to talk about risk in a way that frames cybersecurity as a fundamental driver of business growth – helping to bring together IT and business leaders who, in reality, are both fighting for the same cause.”

“IT decision makers should never have to downplay the severity of cyber risks to the Board. But they may need to modify their language so both sides understand each other,” said Phil Gough, Head of Information Security and Assurance at Nuffield Health.

“That’s the first step to aligning business-cybersecurity strategy, and it’s a crucial one. Articulating cyber risks in business terms will get them the attention they deserve, and help the C-suite to recognise security as a growth enabler, not a block on innovation.”

C-suite’s attitude to cyber risk is inconsistent

The research reveals that just 50% of IT leaders and 38% of business decision makers believe the C-suite completely understand cyber risks. Although some think this is because the topic is complex and constantly changing, many believe the C-suite either doesn’t try hard enough (26%) or doesn’t want (20%) to understand.

There’s also disagreement between IT and business leaders over who’s ultimately responsible for managing and mitigating risk. IT leaders are nearly twice as likely as business leaders to point to IT teams and the CISO. 49% of respondents claim that cyber risks are still being treated as an IT problem rather than a business risk.

This friction is causing potentially serious issues: 52% of respondents agree that their organization’s attitude to cyber risk is inconsistent and varies from month to month.

However, 31% of respondents believe cybersecurity is the biggest business risk today, and 66% claiming it has the highest cost impact of any business risk – a seemingly conflicting opinion given the overall willingness to compromise on security.

How to make the C-suite take notice?

There are three main ways respondents believe the C-suite will sit up and take notice of cyber risk:

• 62% think it would take a breach of their organization
• 62% it would help if they could better report on and more easily explain the business risk of cyber threats
• 61% say it would make an impact if customers start demanding more sophisticated security credentials

“To make cybersecurity a board-level issue, the C-suite must come to view it as a true business enabler,” said Marc Walsh, Enterprise Security Architect at Coillte. “This will prompt IT and security leaders to articulate their challenges to the board in the language of business risk. And it will require prioritized, proactive investments from the boardroom – not just band-aid solutions following a breach.”