Over half of companies experienced cybersecurity incidents last year

According to new research from International Data Corporation (IDC) and Exabeam, 57 percent of companies experienced significant security incidents in the last year that needed extra resources to address.

North America experienced the highest rate of security incidents (66 percent), closely followed by Western Europe (65 percent), then Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) (34 percent).

The findings also reveal a significant gap between self-reported security measures and reality. Despite 57 percent of interviewed organizations reporting significant security incidents, over 70 percent report better performance on cybersecurity key performance indicators (KPIs), such as mean time to detect, investigate, respond, and remediate in 2023 compared to 2022, and the overwhelming majority of organizations (over 90 percent) believe they have good or excellent ability to detect cyberthreats.

"While we aren't surprised by the contradictions in the data, our study in partnership with IDC further opened our eyes to the fact that most security operations teams still do not have the visibility needed for overall security operations success. Despite the varied TDIR (Threat Detection, Investigation and Response) investments they have in place, they are struggling to thoroughly conduct comprehensive analysis and response activities," says Steve Moore, Exabeam's chief security strategist and co-founder of the Exabeam TEN18 cybersecurity research and insights group. "Looking at the lack of automation and inconsistencies in many TDIR workflows, it makes sense that even when security teams feel they have what they need, there is still room to improve efficiency and velocity of defense operations."

Globally organizations are able to monitor only 66 percent of their IT environments, leaving ample room for blindspots, including those in the cloud. In addition 53 percent of global organizations have automated half or less of their TDIR workflow.

When asked about the areas where they needed help, 36 percent of organizations say they need to ask for third-party assistance in managing their threat detection and response, citing the challenge of handling it entirely on their own.

"As organizations continue to improve their TDIR processes, their security program metrics will likely look worse before they get better. But the tools exist to put them back on the front foot," adds Moore. "Because AI-driven automation can aid in improving metrics and team morale, we’re already seeing increased demand to build even more AI-powered features. We expect the market demand for security solutions that leverage AI to continue in 2024 and beyond."

You can find out more on the Exabeam site.

Image credit: Arwagula/Dreamstime.com