Sydney, Australia – November 29, 2023 – Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response (XDR), today released new research as part of the company’s Mind of the CISO initiative which finds three-fifths (60%) of Australia businesses create new roles and responsibilities as a result of a cyber attack.
Trellix’s ‘Mind of the CISO: Behind the Breach’ research surveyed global Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across major industries to better understand the unique challenges faced after experiencing a cyber attack.
“Today’s CISO has a considerable task on their hands in keeping out hackers who are continually becoming more sophisticated in the way they perform cyber attacks” said Luke Power, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand at Trellix. “As threats evolve, it is encouraging to see that Australian businesses are doubling down on bringing in the right expertise to support security leaders in preventing major cyber incidents”.
The research reveals what CISOs face in the aftermath of a cyber incident:
CISOs remain reactive until boards become proactive. The survey found all Australian CISOs receive more support from the board following an attack – with 43% adding contract services such as incident response or professional services and two-fifths (40%) receiving an increased budget for additional technology.
“The biggest learning is the awareness had to be raised at the board level…unfortunately, it had to take an incident to do so,” shared a CISO of an Australian Government agency.
Australian CISOs face attacks from all angles. Data theft attacks (53%), malware (40%), DDoS attacks (37%) and ransomware (23%) are common threats facing Australian companies. Alongside password misuse, supply chain breaches (40%) and insider threats (37%) were called out as causes of major cybersecurity incidents.
Plethora of consequences for organisations hit by cyber incidents: Half (50%) of Australian businesses end up paying damages to third parties as a result of cyberattack, while data loss (47%), declining reputation (37%) as a consequence of public exposure and significant stress to SecOps teams (30%) were identified as key factors negatively impacting organisations as a result of an incident.
Improvements needed across people, processes, and technology: 37% of Australian CISOs flagged password misuse as cause of a major cyber incident they experienced, while a third (33%) feel ‘a complete overhaul’ is needed in their structures, policies and ways of working in order to mitigate risk and deal with threats in real time.
XDR is a viable threat prevention solution. Every CISO surveyed believes if their organisation had implemented Extended Detection and Response (XDR), the major cybersecurity event they experienced would have been prevented, demonstrating the impact efficient technology has on SecOps teams and processes.
To increase engagement among and support for CISOs, Trellix launched its Mind of the CISO initiative earlier this year, encompassing a CISO Council, webinars, and research. For more on these new findings, Trellix’s Mind of the CISO: Behind the Breach eBook can be found here.
Methodology
The Trellix study, conducted by Vanson Bourne, surveyed more than 500 global CISOs from companies with a minimum of 1,000 employees in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, India, Singapore, UAE, South Africa, Japan, and South Korea. Industries include energy and utilities, healthcare, public sectors, manufacturing and production, and financial services. Every respondent experienced at least one cyber incident in the last five years.
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About Trellix
Trellix is a global company redefining the future of cybersecurity and soulful work. The company’s open and native extended detection and response (XDR) platform helps organizations confronted by today’s most advanced threats gain confidence in the protection and resilience of their operations. Trellix, along with an extensive partner ecosystem, accelerates technology innovation through machine learning and automation to empower over 40,000 business and government customers with living security. More at https://trellix.com.
