Security

How to Respond to Increasingly Complex Cybersecurity Threats [#Infographic]

Data breaches are alarmingly common and can wreak havoc on your organization. However, there are preventive measures you can take to boost protection.

Phil Goldstein

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Phil Goldstein is a former web editor of the CDW family of tech magazines and a veteran technology journalist. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and their animals: a dog named Brenna, and two cats, Grady and Princess.

One need only to look at the headlines to know that data breaches are common and growing in size and frequency. At the same time, as threats grow more sophisticated, organizations are adding more mobile and Internet of Things devices to their IT environments, increasing their risk surface.

To study the state of IT security, CDW commissioned the Cybersecurity Insight Report through IDG, the world’s leading technology, media, data and marketing services company. For the December survey, respondents were required to be involved in the purchase process for cybersecurity and/or risk-mitigation solutions and services.

Of those surveyed, 46 percent had experienced a serious security breach in the past 12 months, and an additional 22 percent had discovered a near-breach.

While breaches are common, it’s also clear that IT security and business are inextricably linked. Businesses rely on the data they collect about customers and sales to drive innovation, and in turn revenue and profit. The security of that data is therefore paramount.

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Breaches are no longer merely headaches to clean up. And they’re no longer perpetrated by amateurs — sophisticated criminals and even nation-states engage in malicious cyberattacks. And while breaches can’t be avoided, risk and impact can be mitigated.

Indeed, of those who had experienced a breach or near-breach in the survey, 20 percent reported downtime or outages were the result; 19 percent said they experienced direct financial loss; 18 percent cited damage to their organization’s reputation; and 17 percent said legal consequences were the result.

The good news is that there are steps your organization can take to improve its security posture. The survey found that 53 percent of organizations have deployed backup plans or systems; 51 percent had deployed preventative/detection systems; half of respondents said they had put in place disaster recovery/business continuity strategies; and 49 percent said they had implemented end-user security policies.

For more information from the report, check out the infographic below.

>>Download CDW’s Cybersecurity Insight Report to learn more about how organizations are managing risk in more effective ways.