As Cyberattacks Continue to Rise, Half of Organizations Claim Their Security Professionals Are Able to Tackle Them

According to research by Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), 51% of companies believe their security and IT professionals are in a position to detect and respond to the wave of cyberattacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, 59% of the respondents claim their security teams have the necessary resources and tools to counter suspicious activity, and effectively carry out their daily tasks.

ISACA surveyed more than 3,700 IT audit, risk, governance and cybersecurity professionals from 123 countries, taking note that 80% of businesses claim to have undertaken training for their remote workforce. On the downside, 87% noticed increased data privacy and protection issues following the swift transition to a work-from-home environment.

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Additionally, 58% claim that bad actors are exploiting the pandemic to conduct targeted attacks and disrupt organizations’ operations, and 92% noticed an increase in individual cyberattacks.

“A surge in the number of remote workers means there is a greater attack surface,” said ISACA CEO David Samuelson.“Remote work is critically important right now, so security has to be at the forefront along with employee education. ISACA professionals have an especially critical role to play in protecting their enterprises, customers and stakeholders during this pandemic.”

In the mid-April survey, ISACA also assessed the effects of COVID-19 on the livelihood of professionals as well as concerns regarding their future in the company. While most stakeholders believe their role in the business is safe, 10% are not ruling out downsizing and eventual job loss.

The recent inquiry also revealed extreme concerns about the long-term repercussions of the novel virus. 49% of respondents expressed their worry regarding the impact on the national economy, and 24% were focused on the impact within the organization itself.

Most participants declared that communication and business continuity plans within their organizations are highly satisfactory. However, leaders were not able to ward off the negative effects that progressed alongside the outbreak, such as:

• Decreased revenues/sales (46%)
• Reduced overall productivity (37%)
• Reduced budgets (32%)
• Supply chain problems (22%)
• Closed business operations (19%)

While most respondents believe normal business operations will resume by Q3 2020, “It’s hard to predict what ‘normal’ will look like in the short term,” said ISACA CTO Simona Rollinson. “What we do know is that tech professionals, including the IT audit, risk, governance and security professionals in our community, are more necessary than ever to their enterprises, and they are well-positioned to adapt and even thrive, regardless of what changes may be in store.”