ARMONK, N.Y.— A vast majority of organizations are still unprepared to properly respond to cybersecurity incidents, with 77% of respondents in a new survey indicating they do not have a cybersecurity incident response plan applied consistently across the enterprise.
IBM Security announced the results of a global study exploring organizations’ preparedness when it comes to withstanding and recovering from a cyber-attack. The study was conducted by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of IBM.
“While studies show that companies who can respond quickly and efficiently to contain a cyber-attack within 30 days save over $1 million on the total cost of a data breach on average, shortfalls in proper cybersecurity incident response planning have remained consistent over the past four years of the study. Of the organizations surveyed that do have a plan in place, more than half (54%) do not test their plans regularly, which can leave them less prepared to effectively manage the complex processes and coordination that must take place in the wake of an attack,” IBM stated.
A ‘Plan to Fail’
The difficulty cybersecurity teams are facing in implementing a cybersecurity incident response plan has also impacted businesses’ compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Nearly half of respondents (46%) say their organization has yet to realize full compliance with GDPR, even as the one-year anniversary of the legislation quickly approaches.
“Failing to plan is a plan to fail when it comes to responding to a cybersecurity incident. These plans need to be stress tested regularly and need full support from the board to invest in the necessary people, processes and technologies to sustain such a program,” said Ted Julian, vice president of product management and co-founder, IBM Resilient. “When proper planning is paired with investments in automation, we see companies able to save millions of dollars during a breach.”
Other Findings
Other takeaways from the study:
- Automation in Response Still Emerging – less than one-quarter of the respondents said their organization significantly uses automation technologies, such as identity management and authentication, incident response platforms and security information and event management (SIEM) tools, in their response process.
- Skills Still not Paying the Bills – only 30% of respondents reported that staffing for cybersecurity is sufficient to achieve a high level of cyber resilience.
- Privacy and Cybersecurity Tied at Hip – 62% of respondents indicated that aligning privacy and cybersecurity roles is essential or very important to achieving cyber resilience within their organizations.