Identifying and remedying vulnerabilities in IT systems and managing security across different computing platforms are the most concerning security issue encountered by SMBs and Enterprises in the UK, according to the latest IT Security Economics Report. Heightened concerns over data protection is also turning business leaders’ attention to the transparency of their suppliers, with 65% ready to allocate additional resources for policy development.
Global digitalization has inevitably led to massive amounts of data being shared and stored online. According to the latest estimates, the volume of data generated, consumed, copied, and stored is projected to reach more than 180 zettabytes by 2025. However, more and more people question companies’ ability to keep their data secure which leads to decline in confidence towards business.
Kaspersky’s global research, conducted among IT decision-makers, showed that 44% of surveyed UK organisations see the cost of securing increasingly complex technology environments - such as new hardware, software and data connectivity– as the most challenging aspect related to IT security. Among other most common concerns for UK businesses, there are loss or exposure of corporate and customer information because of a data breach and inadequate planning, with 40% and 32% share respectively.
Thinking more specifically about the most concerning security challenges that UK respondents identified, identifying and remedying vulnerabilities in IT systems they use (17%) was the most significant, topping the management of security across different computing platforms (16%) and data loss (16%).
Given that data protection has turned into the most alarming business security issue, companies are now attaching considerable importance to their suppliers’ and contractors’ transparency policies. Of those UK business questioned, 83% consider the presence, or absence of transparency policies is important for going into business with a supplier or contractor. And while 74 % of surveyed UK organizations already have transparency policies in their organizations, 65% confirmed their readiness to invest resources in developing it further.
“Today, we see organizations are being more conscientious when it comes to data security and that a responsible approach towards data management is becoming an essential when considering suppliers and contractors. To help their customers and partners ascertain that the required standards for ensuring data security are applied, more and more companies are adopting transparency policies. Kaspersky has been one of the industry’s pioneers in building digital trust — we have provided our stakeholders with a number of instruments to validate the trustworthiness of our solutions and business operations, and we’re determined to further work with our partners to turn transparency into an industry-wide standard for the sake of greater cyber resilience,” comments Yuliya Shlychkova, the head of Public Affairs at Kaspersky.
To minimize the risk of any attacks and data breaches for businesses, Kaspersky recommends using endpoint protection with proven track record providing capabilities for threat detection and response. In addition, managed protection services will help organizations with their attack investigation and expert response. Comprehensive cybersecurity awareness training teaching how to avoid common security threats is also required to reduce the likelihood of incidents caused by employees.
To gain more insights about IT security costs and budgets in businesses in 2022 visit the interactive Kaspersky Calculator. The full report “IT Security Economics 2022” is available to download here
