Study finds 93% of organizations suffered a cyberattack last year, making attack surface visibility top priority for CISOs
Today, Censys, the leading internet intelligence platform for threat hunting and exposure management, announced findings from its “The 2023 State of Security Leadership: Exploring the Struggles of CISOs in a Shifting Digital Terrain.” The report focuses on the strategic concerns of CISOs and cybersecurity leaders, and their perspectives on critical security issues across multiple sectors. Since Censys provides the most comprehensive view of an organization’s infrastructure, the company wanted to determine how the threat landscape continues to influence security leaders’ decision-making.
The State of Security Leadership provides a glimpse into the continual progression of our digital landscape that has become a permanent concern among cybersecurity professionals. With Censys’ industry-leading expertise, the findings bring visibility to the critical needs and weaknesses across an organization’s internet infrastructure. The results are divided among overall landscape perception, cyber attack damage and mitigation practices, and expert recommendations for the next 12 months.
Censys’ 2023 State of Security Leadership found that:
- The threat landscape is not improving: 100% of respondents shared that their perception of the threat landscape is worse compared to one year ago. Specifically, 93% of CISOs suffered from at least one cyber attack within the last year
- A breadth of connected assets is largely unknown: Nearly 53% identified the need to secure their organization’s entire attack surface as their top priority. This emphasizes External Attack Surface Management platforms as a critical and foundational element to securing organizations and preventing attacks
- Burnout and mental well-being continue to be top-of-mind: 65% of security teams lack qualified resources to fulfill security needs, causing significant concern for burnout among senior security leaders and their team members
- Fifty-eight percent took defensive actions resulting from increased global tensions: As a result of geopolitical conflict within the last year, over half of the respondents implemented (or increased) a Zero Trust architecture/privileged access management across their organization
- Cyber investment protection is mixed: While 91% of respondents have cyber insurance, nearly a quarter do not understand the total obligations of their insurance policy
“In this report, we explored the cyber events and experiences that influence senior leadership decisions. Censys strives to continuously share meaningful guidance and visibility as security leaders seek to adapt their own strategies,” said Dayna Rothman, CMO at Censys. “By doing this study, it is our hope that organizations can better facilitate conversations about the importance of digital asset management, and maintain good security practices that provide continued visibility.”
While we continue to see progress, new cybersecurity challenges cause CISOs to feel trapped in a never-ending cycle. Threats continue to remain a top concern, however, security leaders are adapting to defend strategic issues that face their organization. It is critical for CISOs and cybersecurity professionals to provide their companies with the support and information needed to continue protecting their business operations.
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