New Accenture Study Finds 87 Per Cent Of Focused Cyberattacks Are Prevented

Yet, organisations still experience 30 cyber breaches per year, signalling need

for more investment in innovative technologies to further improve cyber resilience

With ransomware and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the rise, the average number of focused cyberattacks per organisation has more than doubled this year compared to the previous 12 months (232 through January 2018 versus 106 through January 2017). In the face of these growing cyber threats, organisations are demonstrating far more success in detecting and blocking them, according to a new study from Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

Yet, despite making significant progress, only two out of five organisations are currently investing in breakthrough technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, indicating there is even more ground to be gained by increasing investment in cyber resilient innovations and solutions.

The study was conducted from January to mid-March 2018 and investigated focused attacks defined as having the potential to both penetrate network defences and cause damage, or extract high-value assets and processes from within organisations. Despite the increased pressure of ransomware attacks, which more than doubled in frequency last year, the study found organisations are upping their game and now preventing 87 per cent of all focused attacks compared to 70 per cent in 2017. However, with 13 per cent of focused attacks penetrating defences, organisations are still facing an average of 30 successful security breaches per year which cause damage or result in the loss of high-value assets.

“Only one in eight focused cyberattacks are getting through versus one in three last year, indicating that organisations are doing a better job of preventing data from being hacked, stolen or leaked,” said Kelly Bissell, managing director of Accenture Security. “While the findings of this study demonstrate that organisations are performing better at mitigating the impact of cyberattacks, they still have more work to do. Building investment capacity for wise security investments must be a priority for those organisations who want to close the gap on successful attacks even further. For business leaders who continue to invest in and embrace new technologies, reaching a sustainable level of cyber resilience could become a reality for many organisations in the next two to three years. That’s an encouraging projection.”

Security Teams Find Breaches Faster

It’s also taking less time to detect a security breach; from months and years to now days and weeks. On average, 89 per cent of respondents said their internal security teams detected breaches within one month compared to only 32 per cent of teams last year. This year, 55 per cent of organisations took one week or less to detect a breach compared to 10 per cent last year.

Although companies are detecting breaches faster, security teams are still only finding 64 per cent of them, which is similar to last year, and they’re collaborating with others outside their organisations to find the remaining breaches. This underscores the importance of collaborative efforts among business and government sectors to stop cyberattacks. When asked how they learn about attacks that the security team has been unable to detect, respondents indicated that more than one-third (38 per cent) are found by white-hat hackers or through a peer or competitor (up from 15 per cent, comparatively, in 2017). Interestingly, only 15 per cent of undetected breaches are found through law enforcement, which is down from 32 per cent the previous year.

Addressing Cybersecurity from the Inside Out

On average, respondents said only two-thirds (67 per cent) of their organisation is actively protected by their cybersecurity program. And, while external incidents continue to pose a serious threat, the survey reveals that organisations should not forget about the enemy from within. Two of the top three cyberattacks with the highest frequency and greatest impact are internal attacks and accidentally published information.

When asked which capabilities were most needed to fill gaps in their cybersecurity solutions, the top two responses were cyber threat analytics and security monitoring (46 per cent each). Organisations realise the benefits derived from investing in emerging technologies. A large majority of respondents (83 per cent) agree that new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine or deep learning, user behaviour analytics, and blockchain are essential to securing the future of organisations.

Five steps organisations can take to achieve cyber resilience include:

1. Build a strong foundation. Identify high value assets and harden them. Ensure controls are deployed across the organisational value chain, not just the corporate function.
2. Pressure test resilience like an attacker. Enhance red defence and blue defence teams with player-coaches that move between them and provide analysis on where improvements need to be made.
3. Employ breakthrough technologies. Free up investment capacity to invest in technologies that can automate your defences. Utilise automated orchestration capabilities and advanced behavioural analytics.
4. Be proactive and use threat hunting. Develop strategic and tactical threat intelligence tailored to your environment to identify potential risks. Monitor for anomalous activity at the most likely points of attack.
5. Evolve the role of CISO. Develop the next generation CISO — steeped in the business and balancing security based on business risk tolerance.

For the 2018 State of Cyber Resilience study, Accenture surveyed 4,600 enterprise security practitioners representing companies with annual revenues of $1 billion or more in 15 countries. The purpose of the study is to understand the extent to which companies prioritise security, the effectiveness of current security efforts and the adequacy of existing investments. More than 98 per cent of respondents were sole or key decision-makers in cybersecurity strategy and spending for their organisation. For the purposes of this research, a cyber resilient business applies fluid security strategies to respond quickly to threats, to minimise damage and continue to operate under attack. It can therefore introduce innovative offerings and business models securely, strengthen customer trust, and grow with confidence.

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