Cyber attacks rise as confidence in avoiding them falls

According to a new survey by the CyberEdge Group although IT security spending is increasing, confidence is falling, with the majority of respondents expecting to be breached in the next 12 months.

The survey of more than 800 security decision makers and practitioners finds that more than 70 percent of respondents' networks had been breached in 2014, which is a 62 percent increase from the previous year.

In 2014, 71 percent of respondents' networks were breached with 22 percent of them having been attacked six or more times. A majority of respondents (52 percent) now believe a successful cyber attack is likely in the coming year -- up from 39 percent in last year's report.

These fears are driving a shift away from traditional security solutions. 67 percent of respondents indicated their intent to evaluate alternative endpoint anti-malware solutions to either augment (34 percent) or replace (33 percent) their existing products.

Half of those surveyed are also now relying on continuous monitoring technologies for discovering network assets, achieving policy compliance, and mitigating vulnerabilities and security misconfigurations.

"Cyberthreats hit an all time high in 2014, in terms of not only the number of breaches but their impact on all aspects of business. Who would have thought that we would see a time when a simple movie would spur attacks that forced an entire industry to publicly address the way it thinks about privacy, piracy, and geopolitical implications of the product it produces," says Steve Piper, CEO of CyberEdge Group. "For the first time in our research, a majority of participants predict their networks will become compromised in 2015. These are indeed dangerous times, but there is still cause for optimism as organizations take active steps to prepare for the unexpected. Welcome to the new reality".

The full report is available to download from the CyberEdge website.

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