Organizations use outsourcing to meet cyber threats

More than half of UK businesses are turning to outsourced partners for cyber security services, according to research commissioned by digital risk protection company Skurio.

Lack of in-house expertise is a key issue for organizations, in particular when it comes to digital risk protection -- the ability to monitor risks, threats and breaches outside their network -- with 80 percent of respondents saying that their teams lack skills and knowledge in this area.

"We're facing exceptional circumstances in terms of working practices and how we need to manage cyber threats, and this is placing significant pressures on businesses of all sizes," says Jeremy Hendy, CEO of Skurio. "We know that the luxury of in-house security teams, on call 24/7 to monitor for external threats, is simply out of reach for many organizations. The research highlights the importance of outsourcing to providers who make cybersecurity their business."

52 percent of all respondents say meeting the data security needs and expectations of their external clients is the most important factor for outsourcing protection against cyber threats. This is followed by reducing loss of customers due to data breaches and reducing lost revenue due to business interruption, or delays in trading.

Among security professionals 50 percent prioritize outsourcing's importance in reducing lost revenue due to business interruption or delays in trading, compared to just 28 percent of IT staff. Its importance for avoiding fines is a key factor for 31 percent of security staff, compared with just 17 percent of IT staff.

Commenting on the findings, Ed Williams, EMEA director of SpiderLabs at Trustwave says, "I'm not surprised that more than 50 percent of UK businesses are turning to outsourced partners for cyber security services. Cyber security skills are highly specialized and can take a number of years to gain. The adoption of the cloud is a key area of focus for organizations and they are increasingly looking for security related expertise to aid that journey. They understand that they can’t afford to get this wrong as getting it wrong could have serious consequences for them. When we also look more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted that when organizations need to act quickly, they also need to balance that with ensuring that decisions and actions have been done securely."

You can find out more on the Skurio blog.

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