Report: Advancing Technology Eases The Fear of Cyber Attacks

These days businesses leaders are feeling increasingly secure in cyber world, with technology innovation giving birth to a wide verity of tools to fend off potential cyber attacks, according to a joint study by PwC, CIO and CSO.

“We are seeing more of what we once saw as a risk, being turned into possible solutions,” said David Burg, PwC’s Global and US Advisory Cyber Security Leader. “For example, many organizations are embracing advanced authentication as a cloud service in place of solely password based authentication.”

The survey found a vast majority of organizations ( 91%) adopting better security frameworks to improve cyber security. As many as 69% of respondents said they use cloud-based security services to help protect sensitive data and ensure privacy.

Once considered a cyber liability, Big Data is being leveraged to enhance security. Similarly, the Internet of Things is also offering tools to feel safe. “As the number of internet-connected devices continues to surge, the Internet of Things will inevitably increase the stakes for securing cloud-based networks,” the report added.

Many businesses are pouring a huge sum of money into developing new network infrastructure capabilities that enable improved intelligence gathering, threat modeling, defense against attacks and incident response.

In addition, some businesses (59%) are purchasing cyber security insurance to help mitigate the financial impact of cybercrimes when they do occur.

The report says investment intended to address these issues doubled in 2015, although only 36% of survey respondents seemed to have a strategy in place to embrace the new technologies.

“There is no one-size-fits-all model for effective cyber security. It’s a journey toward a future state that starts with the right mix of technologies, processes, and people skills,” added Burg. “With those components in place, cyber security potentially serves as an indispensable ongoing business enabler.”

Over the past three years, the number of organizations that embrace external collaboration has steadily increased. Sixty-five percent of respondents report they are collaborating with others to improve security.

“As more businesses share more data with an expanding roster of partners and customers, it makes sense that they also would swap intelligence on cyber security threats and responses,” the report added.

According to the report, information security budgets increased 24 percent this year.