IT’s Confidence in Mitigating Cyberthreats Low

As cyberthreats evolve and increase in both voracity and velocity, many IT professionals are becoming increasingly worried about their organization’s ability to deal with those threats. That’s according to the results of a recent survey conducted by Cybersecurity Insiders

The study, which was commissioned by Hunters, a cybersecurity startup offering autonomous threat detection, queried some 400 security decision-makers across several industries including financial services, health care, manufacturing, high-tech, government and education.

The survey revealed that the majority of respondents (64%) are moderately confident or less in their ability to respond to a cyberattack. What’s more, some 56% think their security operations center (SOC) is not mature enough to deal with emerging threats. Those results define a two-pronged limitation in how organizations deal with emerging and growing cyberthreats. Simply put, it appears that the majority of IT professionals lack both the knowledge and tools to deal with an evolving threat environment.

It is a realization that may force cybersecurity professionals to go beyond threat detection and embrace the novel concept of threat hunting, wherein emerging threats can be identified before they can have a negative impact on operations. The survey backs that idea, revealing that 93% of organizations see threat hunting as a top security initiative. Respondents also noted the automatic detection capabilities that threat hunting provides as a critical capability.

The survey backs a trend in the cybersecurity realm of moving beyond endpoint detection and response (EDR) technologies, which are becoming less than ideal for mitigating the latest cybersecurity threats. Many are turning to an emerging technology known as XDR (extended detection and response). 

“XDR promises to change the cyberthreat game by giving cybersecurity professionals a heads up on emerging threats,” said Evengeny Belenky, an independent cybersecurity expert. “By coupling automation with threat hunting, organizations can react in real-time, preventing lateral attacks and other compromises from happening.” 

Both market trends and the data gathered in the survey reveal that XDR may become the next top cybersecurity technology to impact enterprises of all sizes, and the technology could not come at a more critical time; according to the survey results, it takes 2.3 times longer to investigate threats without a threat hunting solution, making such technology even more important. 

The report offers several other insights into the current threat environment and the challenges faced by IT professionals attempting to mitigate and contain threats. For example, according to the survey results, 38% think advanced emerging threats are missed by traditional security tools and 29% believe they have no visibility into their business’s overall security posture.

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The complete report can be found here.

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Frank Ohlhorst

Frank is an award-winning technology journalist and IT industry analyst, with extensive experience as a business consultant, editor, author, and blogger. Frank works with both technology startups and established technology ventures, helping them to build channel programs, launch products, validate product quality, create marketing materials, author case studies, eBooks and white papers.

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