Only 14% of Organisations in New Zealand Have a Cybersecurity Posture ‘Mature’ Enough to Defend against the Threats …

Only 14% of Organisations in New Zealand Have a Cybersecurity Posture ‘Mature’ Enough to Defend against the Threats of a Hybrid World

News Summary:

Readiness is critical: 88% respondents said they expect a cybersecurity incident to disrupt their business in the next 12 to 24 months

The cost of being unprepared can be substantial: 69% of respondents said they had a cybersecurity incident in the last 12 months, which cost 53% of organisations affected at least $800,000 NZD*

Companies are taking action: 81% respondents said their organisations plan to increase their cybersecurity budget by at least 10% over the next 12 months

Wellington, New Zealand – March 21, 2023 — A mere 14% of organisations in New Zealand have the ‘Mature’ level of readiness needed to be resilient against today’s modern cybersecurity risks, according to Cisco’s first-ever Cybersecurity Readiness Index released today. The index has been developed against the backdrop of a post-COVID, hybrid world, where users and data must be secured wherever work gets done. The report highlights where businesses are doing well and where cybersecurity readiness gaps will widen if global business and security leaders don’t take action.

Organisations have moved from an operating model that was largely static – where people operated from single devices from one location, connecting to a static network – to a hybrid world in which the

y increasingly operate from multiple devices in multiple locations, connect to multiple networks, access applications in the cloud and on the go, and generate enormous amounts of data. This presents new and unique cybersecurity challenges for companies.

Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index: Resilience in a Hybrid World

Titled, Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index: Resilience in a Hybrid World, the report measures the readiness of companies to maintain cybersecurity resilience against modern threats. These measures cover five core pillars that form the baseline of required defences: identity, devices, network, application workloads, and data, and encompasses 19 different solutions within the pillars.

Conducted by an independent third-party, the double-blind survey asked 6,700 private sector cybersecurity leaders across 27 markets to indicate which of these solutions they had deployed and the stage of deployment. Companies were then classified into four stages of increasing readiness: Beginner, Formative, Progressive and Mature.

Beginner (Overall score of less than 10): At initial stages of deployment of solutions

Formative (Score of between 11 – 44): Have some level of deployment, but performing below average on cybersecurity readiness

Progressive (Score of between 45 – 75): Considerable level of deployment and performing above average on cybersecurity readiness

Mature (Score of 76 and higher): Have achieved advanced stages of deployment and are most ready to address security risks

Findings

Alongside the stark finding that only 14% of companies in New Zealand are at the Mature stage, about three-fourth (69%) of companies fall into the Beginner (13%) or Formative (56%) stages – meaning they are performing below average on cybersecurity readiness. Globally, 15% of companies are at a Mature stage.

This readiness gap is telling, not least because 88% respondents said they expect a cybersecurity incident to disrupt their business in the next 12 to 24 months. The cost of being unprepared can be substantial, as 69% of respondents said they had a cybersecurity incident in the last 12 months, and 53% of those affected said it cost them at least $800,000 NZD.

“It is evident that there are things we can do better in cybersecurity as New Zealand organisations can do more when it comes to their cybersecurity hygiene. While the report shows the shortfalls, it also highlights the areas in which we are progressing relative to maturity, with less organisations in the ‘beginner’ space, and more organisations in the ‘progressive’ stage – it highlights our industry is maturing in the right direction.”
—Corien Vermaak, Head of Cybersecurity for Cisco Australia & New Zealand

“Security is clearly top of mind for New Zealand organisations, and it’s no surprise given the challenges and threats in this space. We can see that organisations in the industry are expecting these incidents now, with 88% of respondents saying they expect a cybersecurity incident.

“The move to hybrid working has fundamentally shifted the landscape of security readiness, and we are moving towards a progressive style of maturity – that’s good news. There is more for us to do work together, as organisations, partners and communities to continue on the upwards trajectory.

“There is an opportunity for the public and private sectors to work more closely in order to continue to improve in cybersecurity readiness, such as educating multiple areas of the business and not just the immediate team and users. The cybersecurity skills gap also needs addressing and is key to our response to improving cybersecurity maturity and ensuring it is sustainable.”

Business leaders must establish a baseline of ‘readiness’ across the five security pillars to build secure and resilient organisations. This need is especially critical given that 81% of the respondents plan to increase their security budgets by at least 10 percent over the next 12 months. By establishing a base, organisations can build on their strengths and prioritise the areas where they need more maturity and improve their resilience.

Other key findings of the index include:

Readiness across the five key pillars

Identity: Only 14% of organisations are ranked Mature

Devices: This has the highest percentage of companies in the Mature stage at 25%

Network Security: Companies are lagging on this front with 66% of organisations in the Beginner or Formative stages

Application Workloads: This is the pillar where companies are the least prepared, with 73% of organisations in the Beginner or Formative stages

Data: Companies are lagging on this front with 69% of organisations in the Beginner or Formative stages

*$500.000 USD

You can read the New Zealand market snapshot here.

Read the global report here.

ENDS

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