Companies vulnerable to cyber attack as defenses lag behind threats
Security solutions are lagging behind and failing to provide protection or detection levels adequate to protect against today's security threats.
This is according to a new survey from security and compliance solutions company Promisec. The results point to increased security gaps and vulnerabilities in spite of widespread fear of security breaches.
The survey spoke to over 150 IT decision makers and 74 percent said traditional anti-virus defenses no longer address advanced targeted threats, with only 26 percent believing they will play a vital role in the future. This compares to 58 percent and 19 percent respectively, in last year’s survey, which illustrates a continued trend away from traditional anti-virus defenses.
Yet despite this recognition and the fact that 73 percent of respondents say endpoints are most vulnerable to attack, fewer companies today (32 percent) say they have advanced endpoint security protections in place, down from 39 percent last year.
"Results from our survey indicate that for many companies, endpoints remain highly vulnerable to a cyber-attack as threat levels continue to rise," says Dan Ross, CEO of Promisec. "We continue to see new breed of more complex and sophisticated threats, where traditional blocking and prevention mechanisms, such as firewall, anti-virus and anti-malware software, are no longer enough to keep our networks safe. Companies need to aggressively fortify their endpoint security infrastructure as a critical part of their total security portfolio in order to keep pace with the rapid evolution of today’s most severe threats".
The survey also finds that 82 percent of IT professionals are either 'highly' or 'moderately' concerned about a potential security breach in the next year but only 31 percent say they are 'well prepared' for a cyber-attack.
You can read more about the survey on the Promisec blog and there's a summary of the findings in the infographic below.
Image Credit: underverse /Shutterstock