68% of CISOs in 16 Countries Fear Cyberattack in Next 12 Months – What About You?

We are back to pandemic level cyber fear. Security firm Proofpoint says that compared to last year, CISOs are feeling less prepared to cope with cyberattacks and more at risk.

Threats are always increasing, data is being ripped off in more ways than we can count, cybersecurity budgets are not what they need to be, CISOs are feeling the effects of burnout and concerns about personal liability after the Joe Sullivan conviction all are a part of the fear.

CISOs from the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and other countries were surveyed.

68 percent of the CISOs feel at risk of a material cyberattack in the next 12 months. This compares to only 48% last year.

More concerning is that 62 percent said they were ready to pay a ransom to recover the stolen data and prevent the release. A similar percentage has cyber insurance in place.

While they might be willing, if they try to pay a terrorist group, Treasury and Justice might not take kindly to that. That may be why such a low percentage of cyberattacks are reported – both sides are breaking the law.

That also explains why cyber insurance costs a lot more for less coverage.

On top of this, 82 percent of those reporting a material loss of sensitive data said departing employees contributed to this. 63 percent reported such losses in the last year and only 60 percent felt that they had adequate controls in place.

If this makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, one of two things is happening. Either you are very optimistic or you are a member of the minority who at least think they have adequate controls in place. I have not heard the CEO of any company who suffered a significant breach say “yup, I guess we did have crappy security”. They all thought they had sufficient controls in place.

If this does NOT make you feel comfortable, please contact us.

Credit: CSO Online

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