Cyber exposure company Tenable has published a global industry study that revealed 94% of firms have experienced a business-impacting cyberattack in the past 12 months, according to both business and security executives.
The data drawn from ‘The Rise of the Business-Aligned Security Executive,’ a commissioned study of more than 800 global business and cybersecurity leaders conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Tenable.
Forrester Consulting conducted an online survey of 416 security and 425 business executives, as well as telephonic interviews with five business and security executives, to examine cybersecurity strategies and practices at midsize to large enterprises in many countries.
Other data showed that only four out of 10 security leaders say they could answer the question: “How secure, or at risk, are we?” with a high level of confidence, despite the prevalence of business-impacting cyberattacks.
Fewer than 50% of security leaders said they are framing cybersecurity threats within the context of specific business risk. For example, though 96% of respondents had developed response strategies to the COVID-19 pandemic, 75% of business and security leaders admitted their response strategies were only “somewhat” aligned.
Commenting on the study, Tenable chief technology officer and co-founder, Renaud Deraison, said: “In the future, there will be two kinds of CISO -- those who align themselves directly with the business and everyone else. The only way to thrive in this era of digital acceleration is to bring cyber into every business question, decision, and investment.”
He added: “We believe this study shows that forward-leaning organizations view cybersecurity strategy as essential to innovation and that when security and the business work hand-in-glove, the results can be transformational.”
