Centrify study finds CEO disconnect is weakening cybersecurity
Centrify has announced the results of a new research study which reveals that a misalignment between CEOs and Technical Officers is weakening enterprise cybersecurity postures

Centrify study finds CEO disconnect is weakening cybersecurity

Centrify, a leading provider of zero trust security through the power of Next-Gen Access, has announced the results of a new research study which reveals that a misalignment between CEOs and Technical Officers is weakening enterprise cybersecurity postures.

The report, ‘CEO Disconnect is Weakening Cybersecurity, was conducted with Dow Jones Customer Intelligence and highlights that CEOs are incorrectly focused on malware, creating misalignment within the C-suite, resulting in undue risk exposure and preventing organisations from effectively stopping breaches.

Technical Officers (CIOs, CTOs and CISOs) on the front lines of cybersecurity point to identity breaches – including privileged user identity attacks and default, stolen or weak passwords – as the biggest threat, not malware. As a result, cybersecurity strategies, project priorities and budget allocations don’t always match up with the primary threats nor prepare companies to stop most breaches.

The study – a survey of 800 enterprise executives including CEOs, Technical Officers and CFOs – highlights that:

  • Sixty-two percent of CEOs cite malware as the primary threat to cybersecurity, compared with only 35% of Technical Officers
  • Only 8% of all executives stated that anti-malware endpoint security would have prevented the ‘significant breaches with serious consequences’ that they experienced
  • Meanwhile, 68% of executives whose companies experienced significant breaches indicated it would most likely have been prevented by either privileged user identity and access management or user identity assurance 

Tom Kemp, CEO of Centrify, said: “While the vast majority of CEOs view themselves as the primary owners of their cybersecurity strategies, this report makes a strong argument that companies need to listen more closely to their Technical Officers.

“It’s clear that the status quo isn’t working. Business leaders need to rethink security with a ‘zero trust security’ approach that verifies every user, validates their devices and limits access and privilege.” 

CEOs are investing in the wrong cybersecurity solutions 

The study also revealed that CEOs are investing in the wrong areas of cybersecurity. The 2017 Data Breach Investigation Report released by Verizon indicates that 81% of breaches involve weak, default or stolen passwords. Identity is the primary attack vector, not malware, yet the report reveals that malware is still the focus point for most CEOs.

  • Sixty percent of CEOs invest the most in malware prevention and 93% indicate they already feel ‘well-prepared’ for malware risk
  • Forty-nine percent of CEOs say their companies will substantially reduce malware threats over the next two years, yet only 28% of CTOs agree with this statement

These investment decisions are frequently caused by misplaced confidence in the ability to protect against breaches, putting organisations at significant risk. While Technical Officers are more aware of the real risks, they are also frustrated by inadequate security budgets as spending is typically strongly aligned with CEO priorities rather than with actual threats.

 Poor communication between CEOs and technical officers leads to misalignment

The study also exposed that the disconnect between CEOs and Technical Officers leads to misaligned security strategies and tension among executives.

  • Eighty-one percent of CEOs say they are most accountable for their organisations’ cybersecurity strategies, while 78% of Technical Officers make the same ownership claim
  • Only 55% of CEOs say their organisation has experienced a breach, whereas 79% of CTOs acknowledge they’ve been breached. This indicates that 24% of CEOs are not aware that they have experienced a breach

Garrett Bekker, Principal Security Analyst at 451 Research, said: “The traditional security model of using well-defined perimeters between ‘trusted’ corporate insiders and ‘untrusted outsiders’ to protect assets has evolved with the advent of cloud, mobile and IoT.

“Yet most enterprises continue to prioritise spending on traditional security tools and approaches.  Centrify’s research reveals that a primary reason for conflicting cybersecurity strategies and spending is that C-level executives and technical managers don’t always see eye-to-eye regarding security priorities and a misaligned C-suite can put the organisation at risk.

“Modern organisations need to rethink their approach and adopt a framework that relies on verifying identity rather than location as the primary means of controlling access to applications, endpoints and infrastructure.”

Outdated thinking results in higher risk 

CEOs also expressed frustration with security technologies that have a poor user experience and cause their employees to lose productivity.

  • Sixty-two percent of CEOs state that multi-factor authentication (MFA) is difficult to manage and is not user-friendly, while only 41% of technical officers agree with this assessment

This outdated perception has been resolved by significant innovation by identity security vendors in areas such as machine learning. These advances have substantially reduced the burden of deploying and managing authentication solutions and improved the user experience for a range of security technologies.

 

 

 

Click below to share this article

Browse our latest issue

Intelligent CIO Middle East

View Magazine Archive