Delinea, a leading provider of solutions that extend Privileged Access Management (PAM), has announced findings from a global survey revealing the impact of misalignment between the cybersecurity function and wider business.
Over 2,000 IT Security Decision Makers (ITSDMs) were polled, including respondents from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Asked about the board and C-suite’s understanding of cybersecurity across the organisation, only 39% of respondents think their company’s leadership has a sound understanding of cybersecurity’s role as a business enabler. Over a third (36%) believe that it is considered important only in terms of compliance and regulatory demands, while 17% said it is not seen as a business priority.
The disconnect between business and security goals appears to have caused at least one negative consequence to 89% of respondents’ organisations, with more than a quarter (26%) also reporting it resulted in an increased number of successful cyberattacks at their company.
The impact of misaligned goals on cybersecurity was wide-ranging as it contributed to delays in investments (35%), delays in strategic decision making (34%) and unnecessary increases in spending (27%).
There were also consequences for the individuals themselves, with 31% of respondents reporting it impacted the whole security team in terms of stress. Furthermore, global economic uncertainty has worsened the situation with half of those surveyed (48%) stating that aligning cybersecurity and broader business goals is becoming more difficult to achieve as a result.
