According to a study by Trend Micro, limited visibility and control threaten the IT security of companies worldwide. The current cyber risk study shows that companies are concerned about digital attack vectors that have gotten out of control.
Trend Micro, one of the world's leading providers of cybersecurity solutions, publishes the results of a new global study. This shows that companies are finding it increasingly difficult to identify and secure their increasingly complex attack surface. This in turn complicates the complete risk management.
Constantly growing attack surface
The study by the Japanese security provider shows that 65 percent of German companies (73 percent worldwide) are concerned about their growing attack surface. 40 percent (37 percent globally) say it is “evolving and confusing,” with just over half (54 percent, 51 percent globally) able to fully appreciate its magnitude. Half (43 percent globally) of respondents go further and admit that their organization's digital attack surface is "out of control".
The main reason German companies struggle to manage and understand cyber risk is a lack of visibility. Almost two thirds (62 percent in Germany and worldwide) state that they have blind spots in the IT landscape that worsen the level of security. Cloud environments are most at risk in this regard. On average, respondents estimate they only have 65 percent (62 percent globally) of their attack surface under control.
Risk management as a challenge
These challenges are multiplied in global companies. More than half (60 percent in Germany, 65 percent globally) of all respondents state that a company that operates internationally in several countries makes risk management even more difficult.
In addition, more than a quarter of all German companies (27 percent, 24 percent worldwide) still map the IT infrastructure manually. In addition, 28 percent organize themselves at the regional level, regardless of the global structure, which leads to the formation of silos and further lack of transparency.
Difficult assessment of cyber risks
🔎 Trend Micro study on cyber risks in companies (Image: Trend Micro).
According to the Trend Micro study, more than half of all companies worldwide (54 percent) believe that their methodology for assessing cyber risks is not mature enough. The following figures from Germany confirm this:
- Only 42 percent (45 percent globally) have a fully defined methodology to assess the risk of their digital attack surface
- Just under a third (30 percent, 35 percent globally) only review/update their risk level monthly or less frequently
- Only 19 percent (23 percent worldwide) analyze their risk on a daily basis
- Carrying out a well-founded risk assessment is therefore the greatest difficulty for German companies
“The IT modernization of the past two years was a necessary response to the pandemic. In many cases, however, it has unknowingly increased the digital attack surface and given threat actors more opportunities to compromise critical assets,” said Richard Werner, business consultant at Trend Micro. "A unified, platform-based approach is the best way to reduce visibility gaps, improve risk assessments, and increase security in complex, distributed IT environments."
About the Study
For the study, Trend Micro surveyed a total of 2022 IT and business decision-makers in 6297 countries in April 29, including 202 in Germany.
More at TrendMicro.com
About Trend Micro As one of the world's leading providers of IT security, Trend Micro helps create a secure world for digital data exchange. With over 30 years of security expertise, global threat research, and constant innovation, Trend Micro offers protection for businesses, government agencies, and consumers. Thanks to our XGen™ security strategy, our solutions benefit from a cross-generational combination of defense techniques optimized for leading-edge environments. Networked threat information enables better and faster protection. Optimized for cloud workloads, endpoints, email, the IIoT and networks, our connected solutions provide centralized visibility across the entire enterprise for faster threat detection and response.