Verasec, a provider in identify and access management smart card solutions, surveyed a number of companies and discovered the following in companies with fewer than 1000 employees (where our clients are).
Some of the most interesting results from participants included the following:
- 43% of respondents from companies of all sizes cited mobility as the technology that poses the greatest security concern for them
- 32% – Consider cloud usage as the greatest security concern
- 22% – Consider external devices/BYOD implementations as most concerning
To combat this:
- 74% – Said network security was where they are focusing their security efforts this year
- 43% – Are focusing on physical security
- 41% – Are implementing two-factor identification
- 37% – Are focusing on cybersecurity in general
Primary data security methods in use are:
- 86% – Say username and password are a primary method for authenticating access to their company’s data
- 54% – Have implemented smart cards
Budget is not heavily allocated for security:
- 40% – Of those surveyed said their companies have committed just 0 percent to 10 percent of their IT budget on security for 2016
- 36% – Said security spending this year would consume between 10 percent and 25 percent of their budget
- Most large organizations are spending 15% on security, except for tech companies that spend 1-5% on specifically on security
My conclusion is that small companies are slow to prioritize security at a higher level and that what effort there is in security is focused mostly on the traditional outer layers (network firewalls and physical barriers). The good news is that two-factor authentication is making good in-roads, since it is relatively inexpensive to implement, and smart cards are also making inroads. More good news is that the cyber security market is estimated to grow to $170 billion (USD) by 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8 percent from 2015 to 2020, according to a report from Markets and Markets (http://cybersecurityventures.com/cybersecurity-market-report/)
More info on the survey can be had here: http://www2.versasec.com/blog/home/2016-security-survey