A new study by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) has uncovered a notable gap in Incident Response (IR) preparedness among EU companies. The majority of respondents – 86 percent – feel they’re prepared to face a cyber attack, yet nearly 40 percent have no IR plan in place. Additionally, only 30 percent of those with IR plans test and update them regularly (more than once a month).
The study was co-sponsored by Resilient Systems, FireEye, HP and Telefonica. The study questioned 200 respondents at CISOs/CIO/VP IT level from companies with more than 1000 employees in the UK, France and Germany.
“As the cyber threat landscape becomes more challenging, businesses need enhanced response plans to ensure they’re able to survive and thrive in the face of these threats,” said Bruce Schneier, Chief Technology Officer at Resilient Systems. “For decades, companies have focused on preventing and detecting attacks, but they haven’t focused enough on Incident Response. This is critical to good security.”
The survey also identified an increase of cybersecurity spending for Incident Response. According to the survey, businesses spend 77 percent of their security budgets on prevention and detection technology. However, spend is moving towards Incident Response capabilities – growing from 23 percent today to 39 percent in two years.
“Organisations are realising that cyber breaches are inevitable – but focusing on improving response can ensure breaches are survivable,” said Duncan Brown, Research Director at PAC and lead author of the study. “We’re encouraged to see that organisations are investing more in the tools, processes, and people needed for effective and fast Incident Response.”
