Businesses building stronger cyber shields

A recent Dell Global Data Protection Index survey found 91 percent of organizations were either aware of or planning to deploy tougher online security protection

Most global companies are upgrading their digital systems this year to fend off pernicious threats that have grown in sophistication during the pandemic era.

A recent Dell Global Data Protection Index survey found 91 percent of organizations were either aware of or planning to deploy tougher online security protection.

Most are leaning on the so-called Zero Trust architecture, a cybersecurity model that shifts organizations’ approach to security from relying solely on perimeter defenses to a proactive strategy that only allows known, authorized traffic.

The survey showed only 23 percent of polled companies have deployed a Zero Trust model and 12 percent are fully deployed.

An upgrade also serves the function of storage to safeguard data from natural devastation.

According to the survey, organizations have experienced higher levels of natural and modern disasters than in previous years, resulting in more data loss, downtime, and recovery costs.

In the past year, cyberattacks accounted for 48 percent of all disasters, up from 37 percent in 2021, leading to all other causes of data disruption.

The survey also revealed 85 percent of organizations using multiple data protection vendors see a benefit in reducing their number of vendors.

Furthermore, it revealed that organizations using a single data protection vendor incurred 34 percent less cost recovering from cyberattacks or other cyber incidents than those who used multiple vendors. Among the study’s key findings:

•Most companies are not very confident that they would be able to recover all systems and data in the event of a data loss;

•Many have an understanding of Zero Trust standards, yet few have fully implemented the architecture;

•Fear that organizations will experience a disruptive event in the next 12 months is extensive, with potentially financially damaging impacts;

•Such fear is likely justified with increasing levels of disruption seen and encountering data protection challenges are commonplace;

•Most are concerned that their organization’s data protection may not be able to cope with a malware or ransomware threat, and become increasingly vulnerable with more employees working from home;

•Organizational confidence in recovering lost data from a cyberattack is low;

•Many are misguided and overconfident about the likelihood and consequences of ransomware attacks;

•There has been an increase in organizations suffering a cyberattack or incident in the last 12 months and security breaches have been more likely to be the cause of data loss and/ or systems downtime; and

The survey showed only 23 percent of polled companies have deployed a Zero Trust model and 12 percent are fully deployed.

•Many believe that emerging technologies pose a risk to data protection, and these risks are likely contributing to fears that are future-ready and that they are at risk of disruption in the next twelve months.

Data protection a must

“With virtually everything connected to the internet in today’s digital world, the need to protect valuable data is more important than ever,” Jeff Boudreau, president and general manager, of Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies, said.

“This digital landscape requires a modern data protection and security strategy to address cyber threats. Point solutions don’t go deep or wide enough to help protect organizations,” he explained.

“With embedded security features, designed into the hardware, firmware, and security control points, Dell’s holistic approach helps organizations achieve Zero Trust architectures to strengthen cyber resiliency and reduce security complexity,” Boudreau said.