What are the most hack-resistant industries?

Government and financial service sectors globally are the most hack-resistant industries in 2020, according to Synack.

Government and financial services scored 15 percent and 11 percent higher, respectively, than all other industries in 2020. Government agencies earned the top spot in part due to reducing the time it takes to remediate exploitable vulnerabilities by 73 percent.

Throughout the year, both sectors faced unprecedented challenges due to the global pandemic, but still maintained a commitment to thorough and continuous security testing that lessened the risk from cyberattacks.

“It’s a tremendously tough time for all organizations amidst today’s uncertainties. Data breaches are the last thing they need right now. That’s why it’s more crucial than ever to quickly find and fix potentially devastating vulnerabilities before they cause irreparable harm,” said Jay Kaplan, CEO at Synack. “If security isn’t a priority, trust can evaporate in an instant.”

The government sector earned 61 — the highest rating

The chaos of 2020 added new hardship to many government bodies, but security hasn’t necessarily suffered as many agencies have become more innovative and agile. Their ability to quickly remediate vulnerabilities drove this year’s top ranking.

Financial services scored 59 amidst massive COVID-19 disruptions

Financial services adapted quickly through the pandemic to help employees adjust to their new remote work realities and ensure customers could continue doing business. Continuous security testing played a significant role in the sector’s ARS.

Healthcare and life sciences scored 56 despite pandemic challenges

The rush to deploy apps to help with the COVID-19 recovery led to serious cybersecurity challenges for healthcare and life sciences. Despite those issues, the sector had the third highest average score as research and manufacturing organizations stayed vigilant and continuously tested digital assets.

ARS scores increase 23 percent from continuous testing

For organizations that regularly release updated code or deploy new apps, point-in-time security analysis will not pick up potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities. A continuous approach to testing helps ensure vulnerabilities are found and fixed quickly, resulting in a higher ARS metric.