Organizational complexity is the greatest threat to cybersecurity

Some 83 percent of organizations believe they are most at risk for cyberattack because of organizational complexities, according to a new survey of organizations by the Ponemon Institute.

“Employees are not following corporate security requirements because they are too difficult to be productive, plus policies hinder their ability to work in their preferred manner,” the study noted. “It is no surprise that shadow IT is on the rise because employees want easier ways to get their work done.”

The study, which was sponsored by Citrix, finds that employees are increasingly putting data on their personal devices, meaning key organization information is accessible from any laptop, phone or tablet left sitting at a desk or coffee shop. And data assets are increasing, putting more information at risk, according to 87 percent of survey respondents.

Survey results also found that security and IT professionals are increasingly concerned about their current operations:

• 79 percent of respondents are worried about security breaches involving high-value information.

• The protection of apps and data is more critical than ever, with 74 percent of organization saying that a new IT security framework is needed to improve security posture and reduce risk.

• 71 percent say there is risk from their inability to control employees’ devices and apps.

As for planning for the future:

• 73 percent say data management, 76 percent say configuration management, and 72 percent say app management, are the keys to reducing the security risk over the next two years in building a new IT infrastructure.

• 75 percent say their organization is not fully prepared to deal with the potential security risks resulting from Internet of Things (IoT).

Also See: Recent DDoS attacks highlight need to ramp up IoT security

“In every region of the world, businesses must accept the fact that security practices and policies need to evolve in order to deal with threats from disruptive technologies, cybercrime and compliance,” according to Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute.

“The research reveals respondents’ awareness of the need to challenge the status quo of their IT security strategies and consider a new IT security architecture to safeguard their organizations from cyber risks,” Ponemon adds.