14 DAY TRIAL // Telecoms company BT has published a report that analyzes the cybersecurity readiness of UK companies. Compared to organizations in the United States, ones in the United Kingdom are lagging behind.
For instance, 41% of US business leaders consider cybersecurity a top priority. In the UK, only 17% do so. And it’s not only the US that’s better than the UK in this category. Brazil, Singapore, France, Hong Kong and Germany also top it.
Furthermore, only 21% of IT decision makers in Britain are capable of measuring the return on investment (ROI) of their cyber security systems. In the US, 90% of firms can do it.
As far as IT security training is concerned, only 37% of Britain’s senior decision makers and directors benefit from it. In the United States, on the other hand, the percentage is 86.
So what are decision makers most afraid of?
On a global scale, non-malicious insider threats are currently cited by most as the number one concern. In Britain, the most commonly cited security concerns are non-malicious insider threats (60%), malicious insider threats (51%), hacktivism (37%) organized crime (32%), state-sponsored actors (15%) and terrorism (12%).
“The research provides a fascinating insight into the changing threat landscape and the challenge this poses for organisations globally,” said Mark Hughes, CEO of BT Security.
“The massive expansion of employee-owned devices, cloud computing and extranets, have multiplied the risk of abuse and attack, leaving organisations exposed to a myriad of internal and external threats – malicious and accidental,” he added.
“US businesses should be celebrated for putting cyber security on the front foot. The risks to business are moving too fast for a purely reactive security approach to be successful. Nor should cyber security be seen as an issue for the IT department alone.”
The complete report is available on BT’s website.