Fortinet Survey Reveals 48-percent of APAC IT Decision Makers are confident of their Cybersecurity Postures

Prioritization of Security Fundamentals Such as Employee Education Lacking, According to Respondents

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, today revealed additional findings from its Global Enterprise Security Survey. According to the research, 40 percent of IT decision makers (ITDMs) at 250+ employee organizations around the Asia Pacific are confident of their cybersecurity posture, despite 86 percent of organizations being breached in the past two years. In addition, 82 percent believe they are doing better than their peers with regards to cybersecurity, while only six percent believe they are lagging behind. The research is a reminder of the importance of employing cybersecurity best practices and fundamentals as well as the urgency to avoid complacency in defending against cyberattacks.

“ITDMs continue to prioritize the maintenance and upgrade of their cybersecurity solutions in an attempt to combat today’s cybersecurity adversaries. Although important, other security best practices within their broader cyber and technology strategy are still missed opportunities. In particular, the urgency to prioritize security hygiene, educate with broader awareness, or implement security approaches that leverage automation, integration, and strategic segmentation, is critical to defend against the highly damaging Internet attacks possible in our near future,” said Patrice Perche, senior executive vice president, worldwide sales and support at Fortinet.

Complacency despite clear concerns

Respondents reveal that 33 percent of breaches experienced in the last two years were the result of social engineering, ransomware and email phishing. In 2018, 73 percent of APAC businesses are planning programmes to educate employees in IT security, reflecting a growing awareness that breaches are caused by carelessness and ignorance as much as maliciousness.

Another top concern for organizations is protecting access to the network. Under half (44 percent) of APAC ITDMs feel confident that they have full visibility and control of all devices with network access. A similar 45 percent of APAC ITDMs feel confident that they have full visibility of the access level of all third parties who frequently have access to networks, while 52 percent of APAC ITDMs feel confident that they have full visibility and control of all employees. This lack of confidence in the network visibility suggests that this is an area that should be treated as a top concern for organizations. Yet, basic security measures like network segmentation are only being planned by 26 percent of APAC businesses in 2018. Without network segmentation, malware entering a network will often be left to spread.

Employee knowledge key for security in organizations

When asked about what they would have done differently over their career in security, 46 percent of APAC ITDMs wish they had invested more in employee security awareness training to prevent a security breach. Educating users can lessen the chance that they become victim of an intrusion attempt that targets one of the weakest links in the cybersecurity chain: employees themselves.

In 80 percent of breach incidents, in the first instance the APAC board blames the IT department – either a specific individual (34 percent) or the department as a whole (47 percent). Employees outside the IT department get blamed in 30 percent of breach incidents, even though they’re often recognized as the weakest link. The IT department can no longer be the only one responsible when it comes to a breach. BYOD and IoT, the use of cloud-based applications, and shadow IT, all extend the security responsibility to the broader organization − and employees.

Balanced Cybersecurity Investment Priorities Are Critical

In 2017, ITDMs investments ranked the following as their number one investment:

• 35% – New security solutions and services
• 27% – Upgrading security solutions
• 21% – Implementing security policies and process
• 9% – Employee training
• 4% – Auditing and assessment

Continued technological investment allows businesses to keep pace with malicious attacks and prepare for them by implementing a comprehensive security solution. Investments in new and upgraded security solutions will continue in 2018, but 27 percent of APAC respondents also reveal that investments towards employee training will become one of the top 3 investment priorities.

Report Methodology

The 2017 Fortinet Global Enterprise Security Survey was undertaken on behalf of Fortinet by independent market research company Loudhouse to examine the changing attitudes towards security in business in July and August 2017. The global survey of IT decision makers with responsibility/visibility of IT security, received 1,801 anonymized respondents across 16 countries (US, Canada, France, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Middle East, South Africa, Poland, Korea, Australia, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia). Respondents to the online questionnaire were not aware of the purpose or sponsor of the report.