78% Lack Confidence in Their Company’s Cybersecurity Posture, Prompting 91% to Increase 2021 Budgets

Rhea-AI Summary

Despite increased investments in IT security, nearly 80% of IT leaders feel their organizations are unprotected against cyberattacks, as highlighted in a new survey by Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ: NSIT). This year, 91% of organizations plan to boost cybersecurity budgets, almost mirroring 2020's spike. The survey reveals a lack of confidence in security measures, with only 32% trusting their security roadmap. Key initiatives include integrating cybersecurity into business decisions, with 68% focusing on incident response and 73% pursuing threat visibility. Challenges include a lack of automation and staffing issues.

Positive

• 91% of organizations plan to increase cybersecurity budgets in 2021, reflecting a strong focus on improving security.
• 100% of respondents report increased attention from boards and executives on cybersecurity issues.
• 68% of companies initiated projects to integrate incident response into business continuity plans.

Negative

• 78% lack confidence in their organization's IT security posture.
• Only 27% expanded security staff in 2020, which may lead to stretched resources.
• 55% rank lack of automation as the top challenge in security operations and management.

Nearly 80% of senior IT and IT security leaders believe their organizations lack sufficient protection against cyberattacks despite increased IT security investments made in 2020 to deal with distributed IT and work-from-home challenges, according to a new IDG Research Services survey commissioned by Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ: NSIT), the global integrator of Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ for organizations of all sizes.

That high level of concern over the ability to withstand cyberthreats in today’s complex IT environment is causing 91% of organizations to increase their cybersecurity budgets in 2021, nearly matching the 96% that boosted IT security spending in 2020, according to the survey by Insight’s Cloud + Data Center Transformation team.

The survey, “Cybersecurity at a Crossroads: The Insight 2021 Report,” examined the impact of the distributed IT landscape and pandemic-related transition to a remote workforce on IT security, including shifts in modernization priorities, projects undertaken in 2020, and major obstacles faced in strengthening cybersecurity defenses. Respondents included more than 200 C-level IT and IT security executives in organizations with an average of 21,300 employees across a wide range of industries.

At a top level, the survey found that 78% lack confidence in their company’s IT security posture and believe improvements are needed. Respondents expressed the least confidence in their organization’s security roadmap (32%), security-related technology and tools (30%), and internal teams and skill sets (27%). They reported the highest level of trust in their company’s data management strategy, but even then, less than half (45%) voiced confidence in this aspect of security operations.

Among other key findings:

• Cybersecurity is being integrated into multiple aspects of the business, indicating rising recognition of the risk that a cyberattack poses to company operations. Fully 100% of survey respondents report that their boards and executive teams are more focused on their organization’s security posture than in the past. In addition, 68% initiated projects to integrate incident response into companywide business continuity plans, 61% are integrating cybersecurity into infrastructure and DevOps decisions, and 59% are incorporating IT security into broader business operations decisions to better combat cyberthreats.

• Companies shifted cybersecurity modernization priorities in 2020 in response to the immediate challenges presented by the pandemic,accelerating an average of five to six initiatives to protect the increasingly distributed IT environment and securely connect a remote workforce with the data needed to keep businesses running. Most companies pursued multiple projects in categories including threat visibility/identification (73%), incident response (70%), network security (68%), endpoint security (67%), application security (67%), malware protection (64%) and identity and access management (55%).

• Most complex, long-range security projects took a back seat to block-and-tackle activities such as anti-malware/anti-virus upgrades, multi-factor authentication and Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) deployments. As a result, relatively few organizations initiated or executed projects in critical areas like identity governance, Zero Trust, data analytics, AI/machine learning and SASE implementations.

The survey also documented key challenges that organizations face in strengthening their security posture.

• 55% rank lack of automation as the #1 challenge in security operations and management, reflecting their inability to manually analyze and respond to the flood of notifications and events generated by today’s increasingly complex security infrastructure. The problem is exacerbated by factors including the disparate toolsets involved, outdated technology lacking the APIs to support automation, and the time and advanced skill sets required to implement automated processes.

• Only 27% of respondents expanded security staff in 2020 – down slightly from 30% in 2019 – leaving IT teams stretched extremely thin and without many of the specialists required to execute the wide range of tasks necessitated by the year’s evolving threatscape; 41% plan to begin or resume staff expansion this year.

• Just 57% conducted a data security risk assessment in 2020 despite the need to reevaluate their security posture in the face of new threats associated with the pandemic. Limited manpower and resources as IT teams addressed emergency security measures likely prevented this critical step in aligning security priorities with current conditions.

“Entering 2020, organizations were in the midst of addressing security challenges associated with the increasingly distributed IT landscape spanning cloud, edge and on-premises environments. These challenges greatly intensified with the rapid work-from-home expansion brought on by the pandemic,” said Shawn O’Grady, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud + Data Center Transformation, Insight. “This survey shows that organizations made strides to address gaps and integrate cybersecurity into business, operational and IT infrastructure decisions, but there is still an enormous amount of work to be done. Bolstering security postures is a complex and continual effort. This is the work we do every day for organizations across all industries.”

Insight’s team of 1,200 architects, engineers and consultants who specialize in cloud and data center transformation serve as an extension to client IT and security teams and help assess risks, fortify security posture, manage day-to-day security operations, and ensure organizations are prepared for future challenges. More information is at https://www.insightcdct.com/Solutions/Security-and-Networking.

Complete survey results are available at https://www.insightcdct.com/cybersecurity2021

About Insight

Today, every business is a technology business. Insight Enterprises Inc. empowers organizations of all sizes with Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ and services to maximize the business value of IT. As a Fortune 500-ranked global provider of Digital Innovation, Cloud + Data Center Transformation, and Connected Workforce solutions and services, we help clients successfully manage their IT today while transforming for tomorrow. From IT strategy and design to implementation and management, our employees help clients innovate and optimize their operations to run business smarter. Discover more at insight.com. NSIT

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210224005176/en/

FAQ

What percentage of organizations lack confidence in their IT security posture according to the Insight survey?

According to the Insight survey, 78% of organizations lack confidence in their IT security posture.

How many organizations plan to increase cybersecurity budgets in 2021?

91% of organizations plan to increase their cybersecurity budgets in 2021.

What was the main challenge facing organizations in strengthening their security posture?

The main challenge identified was a lack of automation in security operations and management, ranked #1 by 55% of respondents.

How did the pandemic impact cybersecurity initiatives for organizations in 2020?

Organizations shifted cybersecurity modernization priorities, accelerating five to six initiatives to respond to challenges from the pandemic.

What is the security staff expansion trend among organizations according to the Insight survey?

Only 27% of organizations expanded security staff in 2020, down from 30% in 2019, indicating potential resource shortages.