Alert Logic, a leading voice in the cybersecurity industry providing security-as-a-service solutions for the cloud has found that security professionals are most concerned about the development of advanced threats, in a survey conducted to understand where the industry sees cyber threats moving in 2018.
According to the results, conducted with 400 cybersecurity professionals, 62% cited the detection advanced threats as the most pressing issue facing them as we look towards 2018. Advanced threats are threats which are made up of complex and varied attack vectors, making them some of the most persistent, yet difficult to detect cyber-incidents that security professionals face, because of the combination of methods used by threat actors.
“Advanced cyber threats present the most arduous task for cybersecurity professionals, and the survey results bear this out,” said Oliver Pinson-Roxburgh, EMEA director at Alert Logic. “Cyber attacks are increasingly difficult to detect, as the security threats presented by malicious actors become increasingly bold and sophisticated, particularly when attacking web applications.”
In addition to this, lack of budget, skilled personnel and lack of security awareness amongst employees weighed in as the most significant obstacles facing cybersecurity teams, inhibiting their organisations from adequately defending against cyber threats.
The issue of skilled personnel holding back security protocol is something that Alert Logic have been working as a company to remedy. They recently celebrated the 3rd anniversary of their Security Operations Centre opening in Cardiff. Alert Logic have worked tirelessly to turn Cardiff into a cybersecurity hub, growing its team from 0 to approximately 130 people, providing highly skilled and well-paid IT jobs for both graduates and seasoned IT staff, and increasing the total UK staff to 180.
This has been possible, in part, as a result of the support provided by the Welsh government and close partnerships with the University of South Wales and Cardiff University as part of their efforts to help combat the cyber security skills gap in the UK.
“Alert Logic is a great success story for South Wales,” said Welsh Economy Secretary Ken Skates. “In just three years the company has firmly settled into the region, becoming a significant employer offering high paid specialist jobs. The company is an active member and contributor to the growing Welsh Cyber Security community.”
In addition, when asked about the business impact of security incidents, system downtime was highlighted as having the biggest impact. Interestingly, revenue impact was only cited as a relatively minor factor (16 percent), suggesting that either security teams have evolved their maturity to effectively manage risk or lack full visibility into the downstream business impact of security incidents.
So, whether it’s in establishing new cybersecurity hotspots in the UK, or polling the community for their most pressing issues, Alert Logic is a cyber company with its finger firmly on the pulse, who remain dedicated to improving cybersecurity as an industry, not just in their own business interests.
