Cybersecurity spending increased in 2020 in Europe and the US. However, data breaches not only did not decrease, but increased – from 38% to 43% of organizations surveyed by Hiscox.
The annual Hiscox Cyber Readiness is a useful indicator of how mature and effective an organization’s cybersecurity strategies are. This year, the company engaged Forrester Consulting to survey over 6,000 companies based in the US, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland.
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According to the poll, the average company now spends more than a fifth (21%) of its IT budget on cybersecurity – a 63% increase in one year – with average spending per business more than doubling in two years – from $1.45 million to $3.25 million.
However, this money for cybersecurity is not necessarily improving outcomes, considering that successful cyberattacks are increasing. Over a quarter (28%) of companies targeted suffered five or more such attacks, with almost a fifth (17%) claiming that the financial impact was so great that it threatened their future.
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Ransomware had a significant impact on organisations last year: 16% were victims of ransomware attacks and 58% paid the ransom . Hiscox also assesses organisations on their ‘cyber readiness’ , across six key areas involving people, processes and technology. The firm found that organisations still have a long way to go to achieve the desired outcomes, with just a fifth (20%) of organisations rated as ‘experts’ and more than a quarter (27%) of organisations rated as ‘beginners’ .
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Notably, organizations rated as “experts” in cybersecurity suffered fewer ransomware attacks, were less likely to pay ransoms, and recovered more quickly.
The US had the highest proportion of cybersecurity “experts” (25%) and one of the lowest average attack costs. Although the UK came in second place, with 23% of its organisations rated as “experts”, these organisations were less likely to be subject to cyberattacks (36%)and more likely to defend successfully against such threats, according to Hiscox.
Information source: info-securitymagazine.com
