A global study conducted by Tenable, an exposure management company, has said that the majority of organisations are not quite well prepared to face cybersecurity attacks and a majority of them are not focusing on preventive measures.
According to the survey, Indian organisations could not prevent 42 per cent of cyberattacks on their businesses, only successfully thwarting 58 per cent of cyberattacks over the past two years.
“Consequently, organisations have had to rely on reactive measures rather than preventing attacks from occurring in the first place,” it said.
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Forrester Consulting conducted the survey for Tenable by roping in 825 IT and cybersecurity professionals, who represent large enterprises in countries like the US, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, India and Brazil. It includes 69 professionals (organisations) from India.
The study further revealed that 78 per cent of Indian respondents believe their organisations could better defend against cyberattacks with more resources dedicated to preventive cybersecurity. “However, a concerning 64 per cent. indicated that their cybersecurity teams spend the majority of their time addressing critical incidents, hampering their capacity to take a proactive stance,” it said.
The study found that a core reason for the prevalent reactivity in Indian organisations’ cybersecurity practices is the lack of alignment in goals between IT and security teams. Seven in 10 (71 per cent.) organisations say their IT teams are more concerned with uptime than patching and remediation.
“In today’s threat landscape, by the time organisations react to cyberattacks, the battle is half lost,” Kartik Shahani, Country Manager for Tenable India, said.
Lack of synchronisation
“Organisations in India simply cannot afford to remain in reactive mode. The study we conducted sheds light on the inherent issues within Indian organisations’ own structure and operations. This misalignment in goals between IT and security teams results in a palpable lack of synchronisation, making it challenging for these vital components of an organisation to work cohesively toward a shared goal,” he said.