Only 11% of IT budgets are earmarked for cyber security needs, despite half of UK organizations detecting and responding to cyber security threats at least once a week, new research shows.
A Vanta survey shows that the majority (54%) of businesses agree that security risks to their business have never been greater, with phishing attacks (35%), AI-based malware (34%) and compliance violations (27%) have all increased in recent years. the past year.
Despite the clear need for more investment in cybersecurity, the report shows that 17% of an IT department’s budget represents the sweet spot, indicating that companies don’t have far to go.
Cyber security deserves more
Although artificial intelligence has impacted safety globally, only two in five (43%) UK organizations regularly conduct AI risk assessments, and less than half have implemented an AI policy to regulate its deployment and use among employees.
The report also highlights the burden of compliance tasks. About two in three (69%) note that customers, investors and suppliers require more evidence of compliance than before. UK businesses are now spending an extra two weeks each year – a total of 12 weeks – on manual safety compliance tasks, compared to last year.
Additionally, IT decision makers (ITDMs) spend an average of seven hours, or about one day, per week assessing and assessing supplier risk. This comes as 44% of UK businesses surveyed revealed that a supplier of theirs had experienced a data breach since they started working with them, highlighting that cyber security threats don’t always come from within.
In addition to addressing threats head-on, greater allocation of IT budgets for cybersecurity also promises to increase customer confidence and reduce financial risk.
“To maintain trust in an AI world, security leaders must go beyond the standard way of doing things,” said Christina Cacioppo, CEO of Vanta. “They must ensure continuous, collaborative and automated trust across their entire business.”