Barracuda Report: Majority of Businesses Struggle with Cyber Risk Management

Six in 10 businesses struggle to manage cyber risk according to a new report from Barracuda Networks, Inc., a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-first security solutions.

The new CIO report: Leading Your Business Through Cyber Risk, explores the top governance challenges facing companies trying to manage cyber risk and boost their cyber resilience, assessing how challenges relating to security policies, management support, third-party access, and supply chains can undermine a company’s ability to withstand and respond to cyberattacks.

According to the report, many organisations find it hard to implement company-wide security policies such as authentication measures and access controls, with 49% of the smaller to mid-sized companies surveyed listing this as one of their top two governance challenges.

Further, just over a third (35%) of smaller companies worry that senior management doesn’t see cyberattacks as a significant risk, while larger companies are most likely to struggle with a lack of budget (38%) and skilled professionals (35%).

Many organisations have concerns about a lack of security and control over the supply chain and visibility into third parties with access to sensitive or confidential data. Around one in 10 don’t have an incident response plan to turn to in the event of a successful breach.

“For many businesses today, a security incident of some kind is almost inevitable,” said Siroui Mushegian, CIO of Barracuda Networks. “What matters is how you prepare for, withstand, respond to, and recover from the incident. This is cyber resilience. Advanced, defence-in-depth security solutions will take you most of the way there, but success also depends on security governance — the policies and programs, leadership, and more that enable you to manage risk. When NIST updated its benchmark cybersecurity framework earlier this year, it added security governance as a strategic priority.”