What Customers Are Saying About Security
What Customers Are Saying About Security
As I’ve discussed before, I spend a lot of time on the road meeting
with customers. While these conversations are an opportunity to engage with
business leaders on the challenges they face and where they are trying to take
their organizations, a consistent and growing topic in all of these interactions
is the issue of enterprise security.
Of course,
this is not surprising. It’s impossible to miss the headlines on the latest
breach and the subsequent impact on the organization’s share price, brand and
reputation. Companies are also spending more on security than ever before, with
global organizations of more than 5,000 employees spending an average of $15.9M
on security each yearThe potential for financial, reputational and physical damage has elevated the issue of cyber security to the boardroom. As a result, security is top of mind for all of the customers I meet with, from Fortune 50 CEOs to CIOs at mid-size companies. Here are a few takeaways from some of these recent conversations and areas we have been working on at HP:
A New Style of IT
At HP, we talk a lot about what we call the “New Style of IT” – essentially,
the shift in how technology is delivered, consumed and paid for that is being
driven by forces like cloud computing, mobility and big data. While the adoption
of new IT solutions in these areas represents a major business opportunity and
can drive innovation and growth, they are also introducing new threats and
challenges for organizations.For instance, in the past year alone, 52 percent of employees used insecure mobile or cloud-based devices at least once. 49 percent admitted to disengaging security features on their laptops, tablets and/or smart phones. To realize the promise of New Style of IT solutions, security must serve as a business-enabling process touching each part of an organization, from mailroom to boardroom. Security teams must focus on proactively managing risk at the highest levels in their organization, not just attacks at the lowest.
Evolving Threats
Cybercrime continues to increase, with 92 percent of Forbes Global 2000
companies reporting data breaches within the last 12 months. This growth is due,
in part, to evolving external and malicious threats. Enterprises today aren’t
just facing a single attacker or the stereotype of a teenager in the basement.
They are fighting well-organized, well-funded adversaries who have formed a
sophisticated marketplace; one that is efficient at orchestrating multiple
attacks on the same targets with diverse techniques. Studies estimate that the
global cybercrime black market has a value of $104 billion per year.As the threat landscape evolves, so too must security. It’s not just locks on the door. It’s locks and a camera in the vault. Organizations must also spend less time on reactive threat management and more on disrupting the adversary marketplace.
Collaboration
One thing I routinely hear in my conversations with customers is the desire
for more cross-industry collaboration in combating the evolving nature of
security threats. Specifically, the sharing of information on threat and
mitigation strategies among peers.At HP, we see collaboration as the first step in adapting to today’s security reality. With adversaries having formed a marketplace to fuel innovation and make stealing from companies easier, it’s never been more critical for organizations to collaborate and share intelligence based on their own experiences and expertise. While victims of cyber-attacks have been hesitant to share information in the past, the reality is that cyber criminals will never stop learning and sharing information that will enable them to probe and attack high-profile targets and intellectual property.
Developing New Talent
Finally, a common refrain I hear from customers is the need to fill a
security skills gap at their respective organizations. Although companies are
increasing spending on cyber security, they are faced with the challenge of
identifying, retaining, and educating security professionals. Quite simply,
there are not enough resources to go around. 65 percent of IT security positions
remain open for 9 weeks or longer. Recent reports cite U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that state
that the number of IT security roles in the country will increase by
approximately 22 percent between now and 2020. While companies with scale and
deep security expertise like HP play a critical role in helping businesses and
governments protect their organizations, the need for qualified workers is an
issue that business and government will need to work to address.These are just a few of the areas of discussion customers have been engaging us around. What are some of the security issues that are top of mind for you and your organization?
Statistics cited from research conducted by the Ponemon Institute.
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