CISOs look to balance transformation and cybersecurity

A new survey reveals that while CISOs are still experiencing challenges around visibility, intelligence and control, nearly half (47 percent) are proactively focused on digital transformation and cloud migration.

The study of 600 UK CISOs from BlueFort Security finds most have moved beyond the challenges of a widespread shift to remote working and are now focused on digital transformation and migration to the cloud, despite an uncertain world picture and bleak economic environment.

Most (88 percent) say cybersecurity has become more of a priority for their Board over the last 12 months. And while 37 percent still have their cybersecurity budget defined as a subset of their organization's general IT budget, more than half (58 percent) of CISOs expect world events to cause an increase in their cybersecurity budget over the next budget cycle.

When asked about the areas their departments are prioritizing, CISOs say they are accelerating digital transformation (47 percent) and ensuring cybersecurity protection is fit for purpose for the future (46 percent). Cloud transformation is a key issue too, with 57 percent of organizations using multiple clouds and 37 percent using a single cloud environment.

"This year's BlueFort CISO survey has a positive message -- CISOs know the direction they need to go, even if they don’t know exactly which steps they will need to take to get there. The reality is CISOs are under huge pressure to deliver visibility, intelligence and control for their organizations while navigating the Wild West of the cyber landscape. CISOs are faced with finding order in chaos -- all while the sector-wide talent shortage means security teams are doing more with less," says Dave Henderson, CEO sales and marketing at BlueFort Security.

Among other findings, the human element remains a key challenge for CISOs, and this is a double edged sword. Employees continue to be the weak link in effective security strategies, particularly when it comes to keeping track of people, their devices and their data. Almost half (45 percent) admit leaving their computer logged in without being on it and use their work computer for personal use, while almost the same amount (43 percent) delete suspicious emails without flagging them to IT and connect to public WiFi sources. Meanwhile, the vast majority (84 percent) of CISOs are actively recruiting to fill a skills shortage, while 87 percent are looking to outsource to help fill this gap. 85 percent of CISOs struggle to retain cybersecurity staff and 84 percent say they have just enough resources to cope with the basics of cyber security.

You can read more on the BlueFort site.

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