Indian organizations were unable to prevent 42% of cyberattacks on businesses, finds study

Indian organizations could not prevent 42% of cyberattacks on their businesses, with a lack of alignment in goals between IT and security teams being cited as the main reason for the high failure rate

Indian organizations managed to thwart just 58% of cyberattacks over the past two years, failing to prevent 42% of cyberattacks.  | Photo Credit: Reuters

Indian organizations managed to thwart just 58% of cyberattacks over the past two years, failing to prevent 42% of cyberattacks. Organisations reportedly rely on reactive measures rather than preventing attacks from occurring in the first place, as a study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Tenable and an exposure management company found.

The study further found that 78% of Indian respondents believed their organizations could better defend against cyberattacks with more resources dedicated to preventive cybersecurity. Another 64% of the respondents said that their cybersecurity teams spent the majority of their time addressing critical incidents, hampering their capacity to take proactive steps.

Data for the study was drawn from “Old Habits Die Hard: How People, Process, and Technology Challenges Are Hurting Cybersecurity Teams in India,”. The study emphases the significance of adopting a proactive cybersecurity approach, which is in contrast to the reactive approach prevalent in Indian organizations. It also highlights the misalignment of goals between the IT and security teams, with seven in ten organizations saying their IT teams are more concerned with uptime than patching and remediation.

Misalignment of goals between the IT and security teams is further exacerbated as organizations race to adopt new and emerging software-as-a-service applications from third-party providers. Eight in ten respondents (81%) said their organizations use a third-party program for SaaS apps and services. However, only around half (54%) have visibility into these third-party environments, making proactive security measures elusive.

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“In today’s threat landscape, by the time organizations react to cyberattacks, the battle is half lost. This misalignment in goals between IT and security teams results in a palpable lack of synchronization, making it challenging for these vital components of an organization to work cohesively toward a shared goal,” said Kartik Shahani, Country Manager for Tenable India.

The study is based on responses collected through an online survey of 825 IT and cybersecurity professionals, including 69 Indian respondents at large enterprises.