Most UK Organizations Lack Confidence in their Cyber Security Spending
A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that forty-two percent of organizations plan on hiring more cyber security professionals. PwC polled 3,000 business and technology executives of which 265 are in the United Kingdom. PwC is based in London.
The survey also found that only thirty-six percent of UK organizations felt confident that they were getting the best return on investment for what they spent on cyber security.
“As cyber security becomes a strategic priority, the CISO role needs to evolve to match its influence within an organisation.” says PwC.
The findings are no surprise given that an increasing number of employees are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, 34 percent of UK organizations have more employees working remotely on a permanent basis The sudden increase in the number of employees working from home leaves organizations more vulnerable to attacks from cybercriminals.
In the survey, organizations were also asked which types of cybersecurity attacks they think will most likely occur in the upcoming year. Fifty-eight percent of UK respondents expect that a cyber attack would target cloud services in their industry. Fifty-two percent said that an attack that disrupts critical business services was likely. While another fifty percent of those surveyed think a ransomware attack is likely, says audit and assurance, consulting and tax services consulting firm PwC in its Cyber Security Strategy 2021 Report.
Just last month the Federal Bureau of investigations (FBI), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a warning to hospitals and healthcare institutions about increasing Ryuk ransomware attacks. At the time the agencies issued cybersecurity advisory alert (AA20-302A) six hospitals had been attacked with ransomware in 24 hours.
In October, donor relations firm Blackbaud revealed that attackers had stolen social security numbers, bank account information, and other sensitive data in a ransomware attack. Also, in October, Barnes & Noble Booksellers was attacked with Ryuk ransomware.
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Although over 40% plan on hiring more staff in the coming year, a surprising one-fifth plan on reducing the number of cyber security employees at their organization.
The report also found that 42% of UK firms plan on hiring more cybersecurity professionals. However, their ideal new employees are expected to have a broad range of skills. For example, working with cloud computing is this skill most respondents are looking for however more than one-third of respondents want communication skills project management analytical skills,
