Future of SecOps: Era of Cyber Resilience in Face of Unprecedented Workforce Transformation

Rhea-AI Summary

CyberRes, a Micro Focus line, released its 2021 State of Security Operations report on Aug 24, 2021, highlighting significant trends in enterprise security amidst COVID-19. Key findings reveal that 85% of companies boosted their security operations budgets and 79% adopted advanced technologies due to increased threats. The report emphasizes the necessity for security operations centers (SOCs) to innovate in combating modern adversaries, with 95% now utilizing hybrid-cloud environments. Over 500 security leaders participated in the survey, providing valuable insights for enhancing security resilience.

Positive

• 85% of enterprises increased security operations budgets during COVID-19.
• 79% adopted advanced security technologies to combat evolving threats.
• 95% of security operations centers now deploy solutions in hybrid-cloud environments.
• Insights from over 500 security operations leaders can guide future strategies.

Negative

• 40% of respondents struggle with increasingly complex attack surfaces.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CyberRes, a Micro Focus (LSE: MCRO; NYSE: MFGP) line of business, today published its annual State of Security Operations report, which provides insights into how enterprises are utilizing security operations to modernize their business, secure the digital value chain and systematically address modern threats to achieve greater enterprise resiliency. Overall, the report found that the increased adoption of advanced security technologies and hybrid-cloud deployments was primarily driven by the need to navigate and manage an increasingly complex and expanding attack surface due to rapid workforce transformation driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CyberRes 2021 State of Security Operations report offers a close look at the changes, trends, challenges, and strategies of security operations (SecOps) teams around the globe. The survey behind the report specifically references the experiences of over 500 security operations managers, executives, and decision makers from around the world, and aims to provide implications and real insights to CISOs, CIOs, and other IT leaders to better secure their enterprises.

The report's key highlights illustrate that 85% of enterprises have increased their budget investment in security operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, 72% have increased their staffing and 79% have increased their adoption of advanced security technologies. The key reason cited for the increased investment was to address the complexity, scale, and impact to business operations through the rapidly growing attack surface, as the result of rapid workforce transformation. Along those same lines, security operations centers (SOCs) have increased their adoption of the cloud, with 95% now deploying their solutions in hybrid-cloud environments, a radical adoption rate fueled by the need to better manage security operations.

"The State of Security Operations report depicts a clearly defined pivot on how cyber plays a role in driving business modernization, securing the digital value chain and driving digital transformation," said Mark Fernandes, Global CTO, CyberRes. "SOCs of the future need to be resilient in combatting modern AI-led adversaries that do not rely on techniques of the past. The report shows that we are moving into an era of highly intelligent, counter-adversary centers that move the human analyst to the center of creative interpretation of threats, where machines assist in countering modern threat actors using ML, automation, cognitive and AI."

Key CISO Insights
Key CISO highlights from the report include:

• SOC business prioritization: 51% of respondents stated that they are prioritizing efforts to build repeatable processes backed by Priority Intelligence Requirements (PIRs), rather than relying on generalized vendor-provided scoring, to align their SOCs with threat intelligence and better secure the value chain.
• SOC in an era of COVID: 85% of respondents increased monitoring controls as a response to COVID-related workforce transformation, as well as complex remote and SASE access requirements.
• Growing complexity driving SOC priorities: 40% of respondents indicated that the primary challenge facing their current security operations teams is their struggle to address an increasingly complex attack surface.
• Modern adversaries are out-innovating traditional SOCs: 79% of respondents say their SOCs were required to increase adoption of advanced security technologies during COVID-19 to combat evolving threats. 36% of respondents indicated that, over the next 12 months, they are planning to adopt techniques powering resilient Security Operations, which are designed to address modern adversaries and threat actors. These techniques include signals, shellcode, and dynamic malware analysis, as well as more advanced end point, hunt, and response capabilities.
• Continuous readiness: 93% of respondents stated that red teaming (i.e., simulating the actions of an adversary) was essential to their security operations, with 72% conducting red teaming exercises at least twice per year to encourage constant vigilance.

More Information 
The 2021 State of Security Operations report is available today, please visit: https://cyberres.com/stateofsecops.  

Methodology
This is an annual report from CyberRes, a Micro Focus line of business. The 2021 State of Security Operations report gathered responses to its 20-question survey in May 2021. Responses were gathered from 520 respondents across seven different countries, varying company sizes, in over 16 different industries. By design, respondents were all from companies with 500+ employees, and all were involved in decision making for security operations at their organizations. 34% of respondents filled a C-Level / Executive role in security operations at their organizations, while 45% filled a Director / Manager role. The final 21% worked in various positions on the frontline, but were still involved with security operations decisions.

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About CyberRes
CyberRes is a Micro Focus line of business. We bring the expertise of one of the world's largest security portfolios to help our customers navigate the changing threat landscape by building both cyber and business resiliency within their teams and organizations. CyberRes is part of a larger set of digital transformation solutions that fight adverse conditions so businesses can continue to run today, keep the lights on, and transform to grow and take advantage of tomorrow's opportunities.

CONTACT:
Lauren Warble,
microfocus@pancomm.com

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SOURCE Micro Focus

FAQ

What did the CyberRes 2021 State of Security Operations report reveal?

The report highlighted that 85% of enterprises raised security budgets and 79% adopted advanced technologies due to rising threats amid COVID-19.

How has COVID-19 affected security operations centers?

COVID-19 has led to 95% of security operations centers adopting hybrid-cloud solutions to manage increased complexity in security.

What percentage of firms increased their security staff according to the report?

72% of firms reported an increase in their security staffing in response to COVID-19.

What challenges do security operations teams face as per the report?

40% indicated that addressing an increasingly complex attack surface is their primary challenge.

When was the CyberRes 2021 State of Security Operations report published?

The report was published on August 24, 2021.