More Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) feel at risk of an incoming cyberattack in the next year than ever before, according to the latest report from Proof Point.
So what do they do?
The good news is that the majority of them have started actively building robust defenses to keep their organizations safe. But more than just a growing awareness of the ever-present threats, they’re also driven by a sense of opportunity.
Far more than a simple mitigation of risks, these cybersecurity improvements help companies build resilience, brand reputation, and foster user trust.
Has your company boarded the cybersecurity train yet? Where do you start making these improvements?
Let’s start from the beginning. We’ll draw insights from the latest Proof Point report, the top concerns keeping CISOs on edge, and then delve into the strategies and solutions empowering them to build a more secure future.
How Cyberattacks are Forcing a Shift in CISO Priorities
Let’s paint a picture of the current cybersecurity landscape so that we better understand where CISO concerns stem from.
A staggering 70% of CISOs believe their organizations are at risk of a significant cyberattack in the next year, with 31% feeling it’s highly likely. This is a large increase from the past few years, but it’s to be expected when you consider the high crime rates.
To build on this, almost half, or 43% of CISOs think their organizations are unprepared for a targeted attack this year. Now, while that percentile still sits too high, it’s great to learn we’re heading in a great direction since it’s an improvement from previous years.
But what exactly is keeping CISOs up at night?
It’s not even sophisticated hackers or complex zero-day exploits. It’s the Achilles’ heel of cybersecurity — the human element — that emerges as the biggest culprit, with a whopping 74% of CISOs considering human error to be their greatest vulnerability.
We’ve talked about this many times, and the biggest source of concern seems to be that you can never completely eliminate the human factor. You can only minimize it through education and the implementation of cybersecurity and authentication solutions that can prevent human-caused mishaps, especially when the consequences of data breaches are as far-reaching as today.
This year’s report reveals that education, financial services, and media/entertainment industries are among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks — and the fallout can be really rough.
43% of CISOs list financial losses as a major concern, 41% operational downtime, 40% data recovery costs, and 34% reputational damage. To top it all off, 31% of CISOs also mention regulatory sanctions such as facing potential fines or penalties as one of the biggest worries.
However, there’s a beacon of hope in this storm. CISOs are taking a proactive stance.
A large 87% agree that information protection and data governance are their top priorities.
This significant increase from previous years (61% in 2023 and 59% in 2022) shows a clear shift in CISO priorities towards a more robust defense. It’s no longer a question of patching holes, instead, it’s a question of proactivity and building a security fortress around valuable data.
The Multi-Layered Approach to Modern Cybersecurity
Every good multi-layered approach to modern cybersecurity starts with employee education.
This education is a proactive defense mechanism because it empowers employees to recognize and mitigate threats. In that, your employees can identify phishing attempts, weak passwords, and other common vulnerabilities, acting as a great line of defense to prevent breaches.
Moreover, when employees understand cybercrime and the consequences of breaches, cybersecurity becomes a shared responsibility.
With that, we minimize the chances of careless mistakes — and even when incidents do happen, we ensure that employees follow established protocols and reduce the damage.
But technology remains your first line of defense. Depending on the authentication solution and its design, it could significantly reduce the likelihood of human error leading to a security breach.
A solution capable of minimizing the human error risk surface needs to be 1) frictionless, and 2) resistant to social engineering strategies.
When authentication solutions such as passwords have unfavorable user experiences, users tend to cut shortcuts. That’s when we end up with passwords such as 123456 or passwords reused across numerous websites, resulting in huge vulnerability to cyber attacks.
Two of the most common social engineering tactics include phishing and SIM swapping. And guess what: both passwords and SMS OTPs, widely used today, are extremely vulnerable.
On the other hand, we have frictionless and social-engineering-resistant authentication options such as IPification.
The way it works is that IPification generates a unique Mobile ID key for every user, based on their phone number, device, and network data. That sensitive data itself is never actually transferred over the network.
To verify their identities, the users only need input their phone number and click once, after which they’re authenticated within milliseconds.
There is no code or password to phish and it comes with a SIM-swapping detection tool. With this tool, mobile app developers get real-time notifications when a new SIM card is detected, and they can then stop any authorization requests until the user confirms they’re using a new SIM card.
It’s all about the tech jumping in where people may make mistakes, somewhat taking them out of the active part of the authentication process.
Most importantly, IPification works perfectly as part of the multi-factor authentication system, the holy grail of today’s cybersecurity.
Whether any authentication solution is enough on its own is a huge question, but the answer is likely no — or at least you’re better off with at least two.
This is also illustrated by the current cyber insurance policies that require you to have MFA to be eligible, so it’s safe to say that it’s becoming a standard. And that’s a good thing. Not only would you be upping your security and getting cyber insurance, but you’d also win brand reputation points.
If this is the route you wish to take, it’s just important to note that not every multi-factor authentication system is the same. You should be striving towards secure, frictionless systems with maximum data privacy.
If you’re unsure of where you should start, you’ll be happy to know that we offer free consultations with our cybersecurity experts.
