Around 95 per cent of Saudi Arabian organisations have experienced a business-impacting cyberattack in the past 12 months, according to Tenable’s global industry study
The data is drawn from ‘The Rise of the Business-Aligned Security Executive,’ a commissioned study of more than 800 global business and cybersecurity leaders, including 49 respondents in Saudi Arabia, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Tenable.
As cybercriminals continue their relentless attacks, 85 per cent of respondents in Saudi Arabia have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of business-impacting cyberattacks over the past two years. These attacks had damaging effects, with organisations reporting loss of customer and employee data (41 per cent), ransomware payments (37 per cent) and financial loss or theft (35 per cent). Around 61 per cent security leaders in Saudi Arabia say these attacks also involved operational technology (OT).
Looking at global respondents, fewer than 50 per cent of security leaders said they are framing cybersecurity threats within the context of a specific business risk. For example, though 96 er cent of respondents had developed response strategies to the COVID-19 pandemic, 75 per cent of business and security leaders admitted their response strategies were only “somewhat” aligned.
“In the future, there will be two kinds of CISO – those who align themselves directly with the business and everyone else. The only way to thrive in this era of digital acceleration is to bring cyber into every business question, decision and investment,” said Renaud Deraison, chief technology officer and co-founder, Tenable.
“We believe this study shows that forward-leaning organizations view cybersecurity strategy as essential to innovation and that when security and the business work hand-in-glove, the results can be transformational.”
