Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
17th April 2024 Issue no. 701

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54% of CISOs are ‘fighting an uphill battle’ for board-level cybersecurity support

Over half (54%) of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) say the board fails to provide them with ample investment for cyber initiatives, according to a new study by cybersecurity technology provider, Encore. An independent study of 100 C-level executives, 100 CISOs and 500 office workers in the US and the UK, sought to uncover the gap that remains between boards and security teams when it comes to addressing cyber demands.   

One of the primary findings of the study indicated that 50% of boards across both regions have cybersecurity at the top of their agenda, yet over 60% of CISOs feel unsupported in mitigating against cyber-attacks.  

“C-level hesitance to invest more in cybersecurity makes it near impossible for CISO’s to answer the hard question ‘are we safe?’ Ensuring risk is properly managed is worth the investment,” said Brendan Kotze, CDO and Co-Founder at Encore.  

Nearly half (49%) of C-level executives admit that having the right technology in place gives them the most confidence in the company’s cybersecurity strategy. However, only 44% of CISOs feel the same.  

Kotze continues, “Security officers not only have to defend the business against a vast amount of known and unknown attacks, but they’re also being asked to stake personal reputation when there is a lack of board confidence in the controls themselves, never mind the operation or compliance of those controls.” 

Other findings include 12% of C-level executives still only discuss cybersecurity when a breach occurs. When asked whether they are satisfied with current investment in cybersecurity, 74% of US-based C-level executives said that they were, compared to only 43% of those in the UK feeling the same.  

“The risk that cybersecurity poses right now is at critical mass for most organisations, so if your mentality is to talk about cyber once a breach occurs then you quickly need a rethink, or you will lose millions in irreparable damages.” Said Lior Arbel, CTO and Co-Founder of Encore.  

To further explore the challenges CISOs currently face, please find the full research report here.

3rd August 2022