According to a Kaspersky survey, half of the decision-makers in Germany have no resources for external security experts, which prevents companies from working with third parties.
Almost half (49 percent) of corporate decision-makers in Germany would like to involve external security experts, but do not have the necessary resources to find a trustworthy partner. This result comes from a recent Kaspersky survey of 1.500 business decision-makers in Europe, 250 of them from Germany. However, those who rely on external security experts are better protected than those companies that manage their security exclusively in-house.
External experts are often better than your own
The results of the Kaspersky study agree with a Gartner analysis. According to this, companies do not only have insufficient resources for their IT security in financial terms, but also, above all, with regard to know-how in their own company - with negative consequences for IT security. Because today not only technology, solutions and services, but increasingly also human expertise are required in order to analyze, evaluate and react accordingly to cybersecurity incidents at the necessary high level.
Fast and adequate detection of and reaction to security incidents are crucial today in order to keep the financial impact as low as possible. Another Kaspersky study from this year found that the cost of a data breach averages $ 1,1 million for large companies in Europe and $ 95.000 for SMBs. Fortunately, however, the average costs worldwide have fallen in recent years, as investments already made in suitable and modern cybersecurity solutions are paying off.
Correct protective measures reduce the risks
"Our study shows that the average financial consequences of an attack have decreased in recent years through the use of the right protective measures," said Christian Milde, General Manager Central Europe at Kaspersky, at the IT security trade fair it-sa in Nuremberg. “However, this could also be because companies have reported fewer data breaches than they used to. Companies may shy away from the time and expense involved in an investigation, or they may not want to risk damaging their image if a breach becomes public. Despite everything, the falling financial damages from data breaches are generally good news for the industry. Because it shows that the work and the strengthening of the IT infrastructures in recent years are effective in protecting corporate networks."
More than half of decision-makers have problems financing cybersecurity
Companies that put their trust in external experts have an advantage. According to the Kaspersky survey, those who outsource their cybersecurity are faced with almost ten percent fewer cyber incidents than companies that work entirely or predominantly with internal resources. The challenge for corporate decision-makers, however, is that almost half in Germany (48 percent; Europe-wide 54 percent) have difficulties in obtaining financial means to improve their cybersecurity. This is of crucial importance as the increasingly complex infrastructure in companies requires appropriate protective measures.
"We face the challenge that companies are mostly convinced that their internal cyber protection is better than it really is," Milde continues. “Only seven percent (eight percent across Europe) of German decision-makers state that they use external resources and experts to be able to react quickly in the event of an incident. However, the need for external cybersecurity expertise should be much higher to ensure truly adequate cyber protection. Specialist knowledge and expertise as well as automated cyber protection complement each other perfectly for all companies – no matter whether large or small.”
When specialist knowledge and expertise come together
“The enterprise cyber threat landscape has become increasingly complex with the digital transformation and workplace changes brought about by the pandemic,” said Bob Bragdon, SVP/Worldwide Managing Director, CSO, IDG. “Companies that continue to react to security risks rather than act are taking direct impact on their bottom line. These negative economic consequences will always outweigh investments in proactive cybersecurity. Businesses need to focus on the basics: getting their technology up to date, properly configuring it, and using a risk-based model to prioritize their technology investments. Since most attacks are aimed at the endpoint, the use of EDR and MDR as well as external expertise is the basis for proactive IT security”.
With Kaspersky EDR and MDR, companies can concentrate on innovation without worrying about IT security
To make up for the lack of resources and expertise and to increase the response to complex and advanced threats, companies should consider outside cybersecurity experts - always in combination with a trustworthy and recognized technology. The approach of a single cybersecurity partner offers transparency across all endpoints in the company network as well as comprehensive protection that enables the automation of routine tasks for the detection, prioritization, investigation and neutralization of complex threats and APT-like attacks.
Kaspersky provides automated endpoint detection and response (EDR) and managed detection and response (MDR) cybersecurity for businesses of all sizes. This includes expert knowledge, support from the latest automated threat intelligence, based on more than 20 years of experience in finding, detecting and combating cyber threats, and a unified framework that enables all of this.
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About Kaspersky Kaspersky is an international cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky's in-depth threat intelligence and security expertise serve as the basis for innovative security solutions and services to protect companies, critical infrastructures, governments and private users worldwide. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection as well as a range of specialized security solutions and services to defend against complex and evolving cyber threats. Kaspersky technologies protect over 400 million users and 250.000 corporate customers. More information about Kaspersky can be found at www.kaspersky.com/