Cyberattacks throughout all industries are growing more sophisticated and the number of breaches at organizations "continues to go unchecked," according to a survey of cybersecurity managers and practitioners.
Seventy-five percent of the 461 respondents to the RSA Conference and ISACA survey said they expected to see an attack on their organization this year. About 6 percent of the respondents work in the healthcare industry, which is one of the most targeted and least prepared sectors when it comes to cybersecurity.
The Ponemon Institute recently released a report that found healthcare organizations could face about one cyberattack per month.
With the increasing chance of attack, security has become a board- and executive-level issue, according to the RSA-ISACA report. A majority of respondents (82 percent) said their board of directors is "concerned" or "very concerned" about cybersecurity.
That said, a survey by the National Association of Corporate Directors found that often, directors on corporate boards in all industries have trouble understanding the risks that cybersecurity presents, and none more so than those in healthcare.
However, the role of the chief information officer is beomcing more visible at organizations, with 63 percent of respondents relying on the CIO when it comes to handling cybersecurity.
As for what attacks organzations are seeing, 60 percent say they have been impacted by phishing attempts, 52 percent cite malware incidents and hacking attempts have hit 36 percent of organizations.
"So, are we winning the cyberwar?" Ron Hale, Ph.D., ISACA chief knowledge officer, asks in a blog post. "Not yet."
"We win some battles, but we are still plagued by attack types that have been long standing problems," he says. "The good news is that the challenges we are experiencing can be solved."
To learn more:
- get the report
- here's Hale's blog post