73% BUSINESSES EXPECT TO BE AFFECTED BY CYBERATTACK IN NEXT 2 YEARS | Scott Manson

Podcast Radio Business Interviews

Scott Manson, Director of Cyber Security at CISCO UK & I speaks to Clayton M. Coke of Podcast Radio Business to discuss why 73% OF BUSINESSES EXPECT TO BE AFFECTED BY CYBERATTACK IN NEXT 2 YEARS

Last week, Britain’s AI minster urged UK businesses to “step up” their cybersecurity in response to growing challenges and risks,noting the UK is second-most attacked country in Europe behind Ukraine.

Today, data from cybersecurity leader Cisco has revealed 54% of UK businesses experienced a cyberattack in the last 12 months,while 70% believe an incident will disrupt operations within the next 12 – 24 months.

Meanwhile,analysis of cybersecurity protections – based on five core pillars: Identity Intelligence, Machine Trustworthiness,Network Resilience, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification – has determined only 2% have security measures rated ‘mature’ to remain resilient.

Similarly, despite many acknowledging the impact AI is having for both defenders and attackers, only 5% are rated ‘mature’ specifically on AI Fortification, with more than half yet to have deployed any AI into their security.

Despite this, 78% feel very or moderately confident in their ability to stay resilient against the evolving threat landscape, which is seeing supply chains attacked, social engineering used to compromise networks, and criminals increasingly exploiting vulnerabilities in common applications.

This overconfidence could stem from the fact 91% have increased their cybersecurity budgets over the last few years, and the majority expect they will grow further. Cisco believes UK firms are not properly assessing the true scale of the challenges they face.

To improve readiness to face future threats, Cisco recommends UK businesses:

1.Continueto accelerate investment in protective cybersecurity measures across the board, and adopt a ‘platform’ approach to ensure solutions can be effectively leveraged

2.Urgently assess and close vulnerability gaps created by unmanaged devices and unsecured WiFi networks

3.Keep abreast of the latest developments in Generative AI technology and use them to enhance security programs and operational resilience

4.Ramp up recruitment to close security talent gaps and avoid more costly downstream consequences.

5.Establish a company baseline of how ‘ready’ you are across the five major security pillars

ABOUT CISCO:

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping our customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at @Cisco.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries.

A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

ABOUT THE 2024 CISCO CYBERSECURITY READINESS INDEX:

The 2024 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index is based on a double-blind survey of 8,136 private sector business leaders who have cybersecurity responsibilities in their organizations.

The organizations cover 30 territories in North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mainland China, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, UK, USA, and Vietnam.

We looked at 31 different solutions across the five core pillars of cybersecurity protection: Identity Intelligence,Machine Trustworthiness, Network Resilience, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification.

Respondents were asked to indicate which of these they had deployed, the stage of deployment, and if these solutions were not already deployed then what budgets had been approved, and the intended timeline of deployment. Each solution was assigned individual weightings based on its relative importance in helping safeguard the applicable pillar.

The scores for each organization were then derived based on the stage of deployment of various solutions under each of the five pillars, with partially deployed solutions assigned a 50% weighting and fully deployed solutions weighted at 100%.

The scores for each pillar are then combined and weighted to arrive at an overall cybersecurity readiness score for each organization. The importance of each pillar was weighted as Identity Intelligence (25%); Network Resilience (25%); Machine Trustworthiness (20%); Cloud Reinforcement (15%); and AI Fortification (15%).

The respondents are drawn from 18 industries: business services; construction; education; engineering, design, architecture; financial services; healthcare; manufacturing; media and communications; natural resources; personal care and services; real estate; restaurant services; retail; technology services; transportation; travel services; wholesale; and ‘others.’

The research was carried out in January and February 2024 using online interviews.

REFERENCES:

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cyber-security-longitudinal-survey-wave-three-results/cyber-security-longitudinal-survey-wave-three