Ponemon Study Finds More than Half of Global IT Professionals Not Confident in Ability to Prevent, Detect and Resolve Data Breaches

Study reveals today’s cybersecurity isn’t working; IT concerned about losing jobs while industry worried about IT talent shortage

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--()--Centrify, the leader in securing hybrid enterprises through the power of identity services, commissioned a Ponemon research study in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia, which revealed less than half of global IT professionals are confident they have the ability to prevent, detect and resolve data breaches. And while the cybersecurity industry is desperately trying to manage a worldwide shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals, a majority (56 percent) of these professionals fear they’ll lose their jobs should a breach occur.

According to the U.S. study, 43 percent of IT practitioners said their organization had suffered a data breach involving sensitive customer or business information in the past two years. That translates to more than one-in-five organizations getting hit with a serious breach each year, in which a significant amount of confidential data is lost. Today’s security is not secure, which is amplified even further by the staggering 61 percent of IT professionals stating they do not believe their companies have a high level of ability to prevent breaches.

For years, organizations have relied on a well-defined boundary to protect their assets. They knew where the perimeters of their networks and endpoints were, and kept their important assets on the safe side. But things have changed. Today, the world as we know it is an increasingly complex digital canvas of identities that live in and out of the enterprise, changing the perimeter of the network — to no perimeter at all. Traditional security measures are failing to safeguard against breaches. And in order to avoid financial and reputational ruin, organizations must now rethink their approach to security. Moving beyond a static perimeter-based approach to one that protects the millions of scattered connections in what is now a boundaryless hybrid enterprise world.

The issue becomes even more complex with the growing shortage of qualified cyber security professionals. According to research from tech market research firm Vanson Bourne, 82 percent of IT decision-makers reported a lack of cybersecurity skills within their organization, and one-in-three say a shortage of skilled IT professionals make them prime hacking targets. ISACA, a non-profit information security advocacy group, predicts there will be a global shortage of two million cybersecurity professionals by 2019. And, every year in the U.S., 40,000 jobs for information security analysts go unfilled, and employers are currently struggling to fill 200,000 other cybersecurity-related positions, according to cybersecurity data tool, CyberSeek.

“There’s no question that every type of organization needs qualified cybersecurity staff with the skills and experience to mitigate against these growing threats, but with shortage of candidates, the role of cybersecurity technology must take up the slack,” said Bill Mann, chief product officer at Centrify. “Organizations need to take a smarter approach to their security needs, implementing tools that are more efficient, consolidating vendors and platforms, and empowering their IT departments. Now more than ever, cybersecurity requires C-suite involvement to ensure its IT department has the right tools to be successful and not just left on the hot seat to take the fall.”

According to Verizon, 80 percent of breaches are due to compromised credentials, requiring organizations to address a very specific vulnerability. To address this, Centrify offers the only integrated platform designed to stop breaches through the trifecta of Identity Services for applications, endpoints and infrastructure—both on premises and in the cloud. Unlike other vendors that only address a subset of users, Centrify’s platform secures access for a company’s entire identityscape, including end users, partners, customers and privileged users—who are the most critical access management use case today.

The stakes are high, so the power of platform security is critical. According to the Forrester study, organizations that reach the highest levels on the maturity scale are 50 percent less likely to have a breach. In addition, these organizations save 40 percent in security costs over their less mature counterparts, and spend $5 million less in breach costs. The study examined four levels of Identity Access Management (IAM) maturity. It found a direct correlation between the number of PIM best practices an organization has implemented and the number of security incidents it encounters. Centrify’s new PIM capabilities enable these best practices, adding to Centrify’s already comprehensive set of integrated services that help organizations increase their IAM maturity level and security posture.

Centrify is the trusted provider in access management. Led by a team with decades of experience redefining security, Centrify is trusted by over 5000 global customers, including more than half of the Fortune 50 to defend their organizations.
See how Centrify Stops the Breach.

About Centrify

Centrify redefines security from a legacy static perimeter-based approach to protecting millions of scattered connections in a boundaryless hybrid enterprise. As the only industry recognized leader in both Privileged Identity Management and Identity-as-a-Service, Centrify provides a single platform to secure each user’s access to apps and infrastructure through the power of identity services. This is Next Dimension Security in the Age of Access. Centrify is enabling over 5,000 customers, including over half the Fortune 50, to defend their organizations. To learn more visit www.centrify.com.
The Breach Stops Here.

Centrify is a registered trademark and Centrify Server Suite, Centrify Privilege Service and Centrify Identity Services are trademarks of Centrify Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

For Centrify
Media Contact:
Jenny Overell, (415) 249-6778
jenny.overell@finnpartners.com
or
Analyst Contact:
Becca Chambers, (669) 444-5446
Becca.Chambers@centrify.com

Release Summary

Centrify-commissioned Ponemon study found less than half of global IT professionals are confident they can prevent, detect and resolve data breaches.

Contacts

For Centrify
Media Contact:
Jenny Overell, (415) 249-6778
jenny.overell@finnpartners.com
or
Analyst Contact:
Becca Chambers, (669) 444-5446
Becca.Chambers@centrify.com