In Proofpoint's 2024 Voice of the CISO report, the cybersecurity company found that CISOs are dealing with people-centric threats more than ever.
Plus, cybersecurity budgets often don't change, and AI can help and hurt CISOs' efforts.
Regarding the specific threat risks, 41% of the CISOs mostly fear ransomware attacks, followed by malware, email fraud, cloud account compromise, insider threat and distributed denial of service attacks.
According to the survey, more CISOs than ever believe human error is the biggest vulnerability for their organizations; 74% of the CISOs feel this way, up from 60% in 2023.
80% of CISOs see human risk as a key cybersecurity concern over the next two years, up from 63% in 2023.
This is where AI comes into play, as 87% of CISOs are looking to deploy AI-powered technologies to fight human vulnerability and block human-centric cyber threats.
According to the Proofpoint report, 73% of CISOs added their data loss events were caused by employees leaving their organization.
To fight the data loss problem, many CISOs educate their employees about computer security best practices, use cloud security solutions, deploy data loss prevention technology, endpoint security, email security or isolation technology.
Seventy percent of CISOs feel their organization will probably face a material cyberattack over the next 12 months, with 31% thinking it is very likely.
The CISOs from the U.S., Canada and South Korea are the most concerned about experiencing such an attack.
Artificial intelligence helps CISOs but also cybercriminals.
As noted earlier, most CISOs surveyed are looking to deploy AI-powered technologies to help them protect their organization, even if they are still at an early stage.
More than half of the CISOs think AI poses some form of security risk to their organization.
The economy has had an impact on organizations, according to 59% of the surveyed CISOs.
Plus, CISOs are pressured to do more or at least the same for less, with security budgets remaining flat at best.
CISOs' top priority according to their budget is now improving information protection and enabling greater business innovation slightly ahead of improving employee cybersecurity awareness.
Sixty-six percent of CISOs are also concerned with personal, financial and legal liability in their role, fearing a lack of protection in their job.
72% of CISOs would not join an organization that would not offer them directors and officers insurance or similar protection in the event of a successful cyberattack.
A bright spot: CISOs' relationships with board members.
Eighty-four percent of CISOs reported they have eye-to-eye contacts with their board members, while only 51% reported such contact in 2022 and 62% in 2023.
This Cyber News was published on www.techrepublic.com. Publication date: Thu, 30 May 2024 21:43:05 +0000