Is your cybersecurity strategy keeping pace in the face of relentless cyber threats? If you’re like most organizations, the answer might be a hesitant “maybe.”
The cost of cybercrime is projected to hit a staggering $10.5 trillion by 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. These escalating costs underscore the urgent need for a more proactive approach to security. But what does proactive security like in practice, and how does your organization compare to your peers?
A recent Omdia report on proactive security provides invaluable insights to help you answer these critical questions. Let’s look at the key findings and discover how you can benchmark your cybersecurity strategy against industry leaders.
Background: What is Proactive Security?
Before we dive into benchmarks and insights from the Omdia research, let’s level-set what we mean by the term “proactive security.”
According to a 2023 report, Fundamentals of Proactive Security, Omdia defined proactive security as
“technologies (including those provided as services) that enable organizations to seek out and mitigate likely threats before they pose a danger to the extended IT environment. Proactive security allows enterprises to consistently and programmatically address the specific circumstances—unknown IT assets, vulnerable software, misconfigurations, and the like—that lead to unknown and unexpected threats to the enterprise.”
Key Takeaways from the Omdia Report
Omdia’s 2024 report on proactive security expands on this initial research. It also paints a clear picture of how cybersecurity is changing:
- Proactive Security is a Priority: The Omdia report surveyed more than 400 security decision-makers. They found that 71% of organizations are increasing their investment in proactive security measures. This indicates a widespread recognition of the need to shift from reactive to proactive approaches.
- Common Proactive Measures: The report highlights that the most common proactive security measures being implemented include attack surface management, risk-based vulnerability management, and security posture management.
- Challenges to Adoption: While proactive security is gaining traction, the report also identifies challenges such as budget constraints, lack of skilled personnel, and the complexity of integrating different security solutions.
- Significant Benefits: IT and security leaders have already begun to embrace proactive security. This has led to significant benefits, including reduced risk of cyberattacks, improved compliance, and cost savings. The report notes that “Organizations are using these solutions to not only enable visibility and management of their entire attack surface, but also to optimize protections through the existing security stack.”
Benchmark Your Strategy: Are You Keeping Pace?
Benchmarking your cybersecurity strategy against your peers is essential for identifying areas of strength and weakness. By comparing your current practices to industry standards, you can gain valuable insights into where to focus your efforts and investments.
The Omdia report provides a wealth of data that you can use to benchmark your own strategy:
- Compare your current security measures to those being implemented by other organizations. Are you keeping pace with industry leaders in areas like attack surface management and vulnerability remediation?
- Identify areas where you may be lagging behind and develop a plan to address these gaps.
- Learn from the successes (and failures) of your peers. The report offers case studies and best practices that can help you refine your own approach.
- Use the report’s findings to justify investments in proactive security to stakeholders. Having data-backed evidence can make a compelling case for the resources you need to protect your organization.
Ready to see how your proactive security measures stack up?
Join us for an upcoming webinar (July 11 at 10 AM PT) where we’ll discuss proactive security insights and trends gathered by the analyst firm Omdia.
Syxsense: Your Partner in Proactive Security
Syxsense is a leading provider of automated endpoint and vulnerability management solutions designed to help organizations stay ahead of the curve. Our comprehensive platform offers automated patching, vulnerability scanning, and remediation, empowering you to take a proactive approach to cybersecurity. Book a consultation today to find out how we can help you get up and running with proactive security capabilities in less than 30 days.
