State of Cybersecurity: Reputational Damage from Attacks Tops List of Concerns

With high-profile cyberattacks such as the SolarWinds incident and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack on the rise, global government and business leaders are challenged to keep pace with the barrage of threats. ISACA’s State of Cybersecurity 2021, Part 2: Threat Landscape, Security Operations and Cybersecurity Maturity focuses on the evolving threat landscape, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on security programs and the challenges of assessing cybersecurity maturity.

According to the research, which was sponsored by HCL, the top five concerns about cyberattacks are:

1. Impact on the organization’s reputation—78%
2. Data breaches resulting in physical or financial harm— 69%
3. Supply chain disruptions—49%
4. Loss of proprietary trade secrets—32%
5. Impact on their own professional reputation—29%

Putting in place cybersecurity training and awareness programs are necessary steps in the defense against cyberattacks – and organizations that have invested in them are already seeing the impact: 78% say the programs had a positive impact.

The report also found that 65% of enterprises assess their cybermaturity. Those that perform these assessments are more likely to have appropriately staffed security teams and are more likely to report appropriately funded cybersecurity budgets.

Visit www.isaca.org/state-of-cybersecurity-2021 to download the report and to see related resources, including insights from CISOs and industry experts on the findings.