A report by threat detection and response provider, E2e-assure, has revealed that 75% of manufacturing organisations confess to grappling with underperforming cybersecurity providers.
The findings reveal a critical need for a shift in cybersecurity strategies within the sector.
The study, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of E2e-assure, surveyed 95 chief information security officers (CISOs) and cybersecurity decision-makers in manufacturing organisations with 500-5,000 employees. The results showed a growing dissatisfaction with current cybersecurity providers, prompting a re-evaluation of defence strategies within the industry.
According to the report, 27% of manufacturing organisations are actively seeking new cybersecurity providers, while an additional 48% believe there is room for improvement with their current services. The urgency for robust cybersecurity defence measures becomes apparent as 78% of manufacturing organisations admit to experiencing cyber-attacks, with less than 1 in 5 describing themselves as “resilient.”
The prevailing outsourcing trend in the manufacturing sector, with 54% relying on external cybersecurity operations, sets it apart from other surveyed industries such as financial services, healthcare and professional services. However, the study reveals significant dissatisfaction within this model, with 63% of CISOs lacking confidence in the effectiveness of threat intelligence and reporting issues like the absence of flexible contracts, transparent pricing and real-time visibility.
CISOs cite escalating false positives (35%), the need to bolt on new services (34%), lack of proactivity (27%), and poor service level agreement response times (26%) as top frustrations with their current providers. As the industry shifts towards innovations like smart manufacturing, providers struggle to offer the clarity, speed and flexibility required.
In response to these challenges, a resounding 53% of CISOs plan to either bring cybersecurity operations in-house (31%) or adopt a hybrid approach (21%) in their next procurement cycle. An additional 29% intend to seek specialist expertise to fill the gaps where current providers fall short.
Rob Demain, CEO of E2e-assure, stated: “Our study sets out to unveil the observations from CISOs and cybersecurity decision-makers as to how their cybersecurity providers are performing, as criminals deploy increasingly advanced extortion techniques.”
The report concluded with five key themes for cyber defence rejuvenation in 2024, emphasising the need for providers to prove their value, organisations to relinquish more control, contracts to be more flexible, service and tooling flexibility and quality cyber defence to be accessible to organisations of all sizes.
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