In an effort to respond quickly and effectively to cybersecurity incidents, organizations are investing in too many tools, which can negatively impact the effectiveness of their defenses. A few days ago, IBM published the results of a global survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute, including responses from nearly 4,000 people from around the world who work in the security and IT. According to the survey, while organizations are investing and planning, effectiveness is not reaching the desired levels, as organizations’ efforts are hindered by the complexity caused by fragmented tools. IBM’s fifth annual Cyber Resilient Organization report notes that while organizations are improving in planning, detecting and responding to cyberattacks, their ability to contain an active threat has declined by 13%.
Enterprises deploy, on average, 45 cybersecurity-related tools on networks . However, using a large number of tools can contribute to an organization’s inability to not only detect an active attack, but also to defend against it.
Enterprises deploying more than 50 tools ranked 8% lower in their ability to detect threats and 7% lower in their defensive capabilities, compared to those using fewer tools.
There’s no doubt that the cybersecurity landscape has evolved to a new level, with 26% of respondents saying their organizations now have formal enterprise security incident response plans. Furthermore, among those who have adopted a incident , only a third have created a playbook for common attack they should watch out for. According to the survey, because each type of attack requires a different response technique, having pre-defined playbooks provides organizations with consistent and repeatable action plans for the most common attacks they are likely to encounter.
IBM reported that the lack of planning and testing for handling such incidents can lead to damages of up to 1,2 million dollars more than it would cost a company – a victim of a cyber attack.
In light of the COVID-19 and the rapid changes many have experienced in their workplaces, plans and tools for responding to such attacks should be reviewed. It is worth noting that only 7% of respondents evaluate these plans every quarter, while 40% have not set a time frame for evaluation and review.
IBM said that as business operations rapidly change due to more employees working remotely, and new attack techniques constantly emerging, this data suggests that many enterprises are relying on outdated response plans that do not reflect the current threat and business landscape.
