Chief Marketing Officer
Originally posted by DataEndure CMO, Kirstin Burke, on linkedin.com
No matter how you slice it, cybersecurity is a huge issue for organizations, and it’s not getting better any time soon. The cost of cybercrime soared to over $1 trillion in 2020, according to McAfee.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
As a response, companies may look to increase their cybersecurity budgets. Here’s the rub – many are actually underinvesting in the solutions needed to meet today’s threat landscape. Cybersecurity trends and attack vectors have changed (and continue to change) dramatically, yet many organizations continue to rely on — and invest in — the same tools and systems they’ve used for years.
And this is understandable to some extent. When you are in the heat of battle, you go with what you know – testing out a new weapon in the midst of the firefight can feel risky. But our cyber-adversaries are bringing a gun to a knife fight, leaving many unprepared and ill-equipped.
Don’t focus on the investment … focus on the result.
Easy to say, harder to execute. Security budgets are on the rise. The pressure to respond to the growing cyber-risk is strong. In fact, enterprises deploy an average of 45 security-related tools to help defend and secure their organization. Think about this. For each tool, there is a need for research, testing, selection, integration and ongoing management. For many IT and security teams, this can be overwhelming and a resource drain – making sticking with what you know attractive. However, tools and technologies are changing at such a rapid pace, and what was best in class only 18 months ago could be dramatically different today. It’s noteworthy that 53% of recently surveyed IT leaders are not confident they have made the right investments to thwart attacks.
Before you open the wallet to start spending more on security, leadership teams should be asking if the tools they’ve already invested in are offering the expected level of security. And IT teams need the ability to regularly and vigorously test their security controls to quickly assess and report on the current state of their environment. This information not only helps tactically close/remediate gaps that require immediate attention but informs where future spending is most beneficial.
Back to our quote from The Untouchables: make sure your defenses are built to withstand the weapons and strategies of your adversary. Even better – consider setting yourself up with a good offense to solidify your defensive posture.
If you aren’t sure where to start, DataEndure offers a complimentary Security Health Check (which is also included in our SOC as a Service offrering) that enables you to precisely map your detection, prevention, and response capabilities to attack scenarios. With the ability to quickly and effectively validate your security controls, you can reduce risk and take an offensive approach to cyber-defense. Does this help make organizations more Untouchable?
We’d like to think so.