Mind the Gap: Global Report Reveals Alignment Issues Between Security Teams and the C-Suite are Exposing Organizations to Increased Cyber Risk
Dynatrace released its annual CISO survey, revealing that organizations struggle with communication barriers between security teams and the C-suite, leading to increased cyber risks. The report highlights the challenges CISOs face in driving alignment and the rise of AI-driven attacks, emphasizing the need for a unified approach to observability and security.
Focus on the importance of a unified observability and security approach to reduce cyber risks
Highlight the critical nature of addressing communication gaps between security teams and the C-suite
Emphasize the need for closer engagement between CISOs, CEOs, and boards to mitigate cyber threats
Concerns over AI-driven attacks exposing organizations to increased risks
Issues with security tools not providing insights tailored to C-level executives' understanding
Challenges in overcoming communication barriers between technical security teams and non-technical C-suite members
The rise of AI-driven attacks and accelerated software delivery cycles makes it more difficult to protect organizations, as
In this year’s report, Dynatrace explored these communication gaps to better understand how a unified approach to observability and security can help teams collaborate more effectively and reduce exposure to risk.
Key findings include:
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Lack of C-level and board alignment leads to cyber risks: CISOs struggle to drive alignment between security teams and the C-suite, with
87% of CISOs saying application security is a blind spot at the CEO and board level. -
Security teams are too technical: Seven out of ten C-suite executives interviewed say security teams talk in technical terms without providing business context. However,
75% of CISOs highlight the issue is rooted in security tools that cannot generate insights that C-level executives and boards of directors can use to understand business risks and prevent threats. - AI is driving more advanced cyber threats: Addressing this technology and communications gap is becoming more critical as the rise of AI-driven attacks and cyber threats significantly increase business risk.
Against this backdrop, nearly three-quarters (
“Cybersecurity incidents can have devastating consequences for organizations and their customers, so the issue has rightfully become a critical board-level concern,” said Bernd Greifeneder, Chief Technology Officer at Dynatrace. “However, many CISOs are struggling to drive alignment between security teams and senior executives because they’re unable to elevate the conversation from bits and bytes to specific business risks. CISOs urgently need to find a way to overcome this barrier and create a culture of shared responsibility for cybersecurity. This will be critical to improving their ability to respond effectively to security incidents and minimize their risk exposure.”
Additional research findings include:
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The need to drive closer engagement between security teams and the C-suite is becoming more important as the rise of AI exposes organizations to added risk. CISOs are concerned about AI’s potential to enable cybercriminals to create new exploits faster and execute them on a broader scale (
52% ). They are also concerned about AI’s potential to allow developers to accelerate software delivery with less oversight, leading to more vulnerabilities (45% ). -
As they look for a solution,
83% of CISOs say DevSecOps automation is more important to manage the risk of vulnerabilities introduced by AI. Additionally,71% of CISOs say DevSecOps automation is critical to ensuring reasonable measures have been taken to minimize application security risk. -
A further
77% of CISOs say current tools such as XDR and SIEM solutions cannot manage cloud complexity, as they lack the intelligence needed to drive automation at scale, and an additional70% of CISOs say the need for multiple application security tools drives operational inefficiency due to the effort needed to make sense of disparate sources of data.
“The growing use of AI is a double-edged sword, creating efficiency gains for both digital innovators and those seeking to breach their defences,” continued Greifeneder. “On the one hand, there’s a greater risk of developers introducing vulnerabilities through AI-generated code that has not been adequately tested, and on the other, cybercriminals can develop more automated and sophisticated attacks to exploit them. Adding further pain, organizations also need to comply with new and emerging laws and regulation, such as SEC rules that require public companies to disclose material cybersecurity incidents within four business days of a determination. Organizations urgently need to modernize their security tools and practices to protect their applications and data from modern, advanced cyber threats. We believe the most effective approaches will be built on a unified platform that drives mature DevSecOps automation and harnesses AI to deal with distributed data at any scale. These platforms will have the ability to provide insights that the entire business can rally behind and can be used to help with legal and regulatory compliance.”
The complimentary report, The state of application security in 2024: The imperative of driving closer alignment among the CISO, CEO, and board, is available for download.
This report is based on a global survey of 1,300 CISOs and ten interviews with CEOs and CFOs in enterprises with over 1,000 employees. It was commissioned by Dynatrace and conducted by Coleman Parkes between March and April 2024.
About Dynatrace
Dynatrace (NYSE: DT) exists to make the world’s software work perfectly. Our unified platform combines broad and deep observability and continuous runtime application security with Davis® hypermodal AI to provide answers and intelligent automation from data at an enormous scale. This enables innovators to modernize and automate cloud operations, deliver software faster and more securely, and ensure flawless digital experiences. That’s why the world’s largest organizations trust the Dynatrace® platform to accelerate digital transformation.
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Source: Dynatrace
FAQ
What did Dynatrace's annual CISO survey reveal?
What percentage of CISOs consider application security a blind spot at the CEO and board level?
What are the key concerns regarding AI's impact on cyber risks according to CISOs?
What is the critical need mentioned by CISOs to manage vulnerabilities introduced by AI?
Where can the complimentary report 'The state of application security in 2024' be downloaded?
Who conducted the global survey mentioned in the press release?
