CEOs Overconfident About Their Security, Study Finds

Security is the primary concern of all IT organizations. There are two vulnerable entry ports for a security breach here- mobile devices and social network. It thus comes as a shock when it is revealed that most C-Suits are of the opinion that their networks are impregnable only to disclose that in reality they are unaware of what the loopholes are.

According to industry studies on the same topic, it is noted that over 97% of companies have displayed signs of a network breach. In 2015, there was a report published which forecasted that there will be losses of over $2.5 trillion by 2019 due to data breaches- a figure which is quadruple the present value.

Reality and perception contradiction

The study revealed that C-Suites believed that their companies were unassailable to the growing cyber-attacks. The common notion held by the corporate giants is that given the funds heavily invested in fortifying the network, its security is assumed.

This display of security over confidence can come down heavily on a company. When the executives are overconfident, there are greater chances of delegating sub-par responsibility towards cyber integrity. The result is providing a company with inadequate resources for security. Over confidence can also lead to conceited management of security, legal concerns and increase in the frequency of breaches.

Study Statistics from other surveys

Over 3/4^th of the respondent pool confessed that the task of building impregnable security walls is impossible given the unpredictable nature of security attacks.
1/4^th of the population were aware that their network was currently under attack.
Half the respondents agree that security is strategic to the business.
3/4^th of the respondents believed that although antivirus and firewalls are important, they are not strategic.
Almost all the respondents agreed that an improved strategy for security solution was to provide a step by step guide of troubleshooting post an attack.
CEO’s who believe in the security of their network also confessed that the chances of a breach is 1 in 4.
When asked to identify the technology which posed the highest risk, responders picked mobile devices.
Within the C-Suite hierarchy, it was found that there were significant differences in the perception of preparedness: 77% Chief Risk Officers and CIO’s responded that the cybersecurity plans for the organization were well established while only 51% CEO agreed with the same.