Managing cyber risks: Time to strengthen the cybersecurity arsenal

IT modernisation over the past two years was a necessary response to the ravages of the pandemic, but in many cases it has also expanded the digital attack surface, giving threat actors more opportunities to compromise key assets. As per a new study by Trend Micro, organisations are struggling to define and secure an expanding cyber-attack surface, hampering risk management. It revealed that on average, organisations in India have only 67% visibility of their complete attack surface, while 95% of organisations have been able to define their attack surface to an extent. Over 39% of organisations feel completely exposed to cyber risk in case of a cloud outage.

Visibility challenges appear to be the main reason organisations are struggling to manage cyber risks. Around 92% of respondents were concerned about the ever evolving and broadening attack surface. Another 64% of the survey respondents said that while their organisation’s digital attack surface is complex it can be controlled.

Visibility of the attack surface is challenging due to various reasons, such as absence of the right tool, organisations having too many tools that keep information in silos, and constant technology innovation. As many as 41% of respondents feel that their organisation’s attack surface has the least visibility over network assets.

Sharda Tickoo, technical director, India and SAARC, Trend Micro, said, “A unified, platform-based approach is the best way to minimise visibility gaps, enhance risk assessments and improve protection across these complex, distributed IT environments.”

FINDINGS FOR INDIA

— 93% of respondents feel that the C-Suite should play a more vital role in demonstrating good cybersecurity practices
— 65% of organisations currently have a moderate risk exposure
— 55% of organisations plan to invest in the education of their IT team in 2022
— 39% of organisations currently use a platform model to manage their digital attack surface