Just two percent of organisations have "mature" cybersecurity readiness, according to Cisco's 2024 Cybersecurity Readiness Index.
Released at this week's Enterprise Connect, that alarming figure marks a decline from 17 percent of organisations being mature in cybersecurity readiness last year. Just as concerningly, almost three-quarters of organisations fall into Cisco's Beginner or Formative stages of readiness (72 percent).
The Readiness Index reflects a period characterised by hyperconnectivity and an evolving threat landscape. Despite ongoing efforts to defend against various techniques such as phishing, ransomware, and social engineering attacks, businesses struggle to keep pace due to overly complex security postures dominated by multiple-point solutions. These challenges are amplified in distributed working environments where data spans myriad services, devices, applications, and users.
Despite this complexity, 78 percent of companies remain moderately to very confident in their ability to defend against cyberattacks with their current infrastructure, according to Cisco's findings. Cisco suggests this confidence may be misplaced, highlighting a need for more comprehensive assessments of cybersecurity readiness.
Jeetu Patel, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Security and Collaboration at Cisco, said:
We cannot underestimate the threat posed by our own overconfidence. Today's organizations need to prioritize investments in integrated platforms and lean into AI in order to operate at machine scale and finally tip the scales in the favor of defenders."
The data is informed from a double-blind survey of 8,136 private sector global business leaders with cybersecurity responsibilities in their respective organisations and was conducted by a third party.
The Index evaluates companies' readiness across five essential pillars: Identity Intelligence, Network Resilience, Machine Trustworthiness, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification, encompassing 31 corresponding solutions and capabilities. Respondents indicate their deployed solutions and deployment stage, enabling classification into four readiness stages: Beginner, Formative, Progressive, and Mature.
Other Compelling Stats
Cisco found that most organisations expect future cybersecurity incidents despite their concerning grading.
Seventy percent of respondents anticipate a cybersecurity incident disrupting their business within the next 12 to 24 months. The ramifications of being unprepared are significant, with 54 percent reporting a cybersecurity incident in the last year. Among those affected, 52 percent stated the incident incurred costs of at least US$300,000.
