More than one-third cybersecurity technologies used by Indian companies outdated

As the new strain of COVID-19 is likely to further impact the plans to return to office, enterprises should constantly upgrade technologies and solutions in their cybersecurity infrastructure. A recent study by Cisco highlighted that 37 per cent of cybersecurity technologies used by companies in India are considered outdated by security and privacy professionals working in those organisations. However, companies in India are addressing this by investing in modern cybersecurity technologies to improve their security posture.

According to Cisco’s “Security Outcomes Study Volume 2” global survey of more than 5100 security and privacy professionals across 27 markets, including 200 professionals from tier 1 companies in in India, the respondents from India also consider their cybersecurity infrastructure unreliable and complex, with 33 per cent and 40 per cent respectively highlighting this in the survey.

But nearly nine in 10 (89 per cent) respondents in India said their company is investing in a ‘Zero Trust’ strategy, with 44 per cent saying their organisation is making steady progress with adopting it and 45 per cent saying they are at a mature state of implementing it. In addition, 88 per cent of respondents said their company is investing in Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture, with 44 per cent making good progress with adoption and a similar number saying their implementation is at mature levels.

SASE combines networking and security functions in the cloud to deliver secure access to applications anywhere users work. Zero Trust, meanwhile, is a simple concept that involves verifying the identity of each user and device every time they access an organisation’s network to reduce security risks.

Cisco says these two approaches are crucial to building a strong security posture for companies in the modern cloud-first and application-centric world. Organisations are facing multiple challenges while operating in this environment, including complexity in connecting users to applications and data across various cloud platforms, inconsistent security policies across disparate locations and networks, difficulty in verifying the identity of users and devices, lack of end-to-end visibility of their security infrastructure, etc.

Vishak Raman, Director, Security Business, Cisco India and SAARC, added, “Cisco’s Security Outcomes Study indicates where the biggest gaps lie in India Inc.’s cybersecurity posture. In response, nearly 60 per cent of companies are expanding their investments in cloud-based security technology plans. As they ramp up these efforts, they must focus on building a robust cloud-based, integrated, and highly automated architecture to ensure agility and intelligence in threat remediation and enable visibility and management of newly distributed users and applications.”

This global study aims to determine the most impactful measures teams can take to defend their organizations against the evolving threat landscape. Respondents, including professionals from companies in India, shared their approaches to updating and integrating their security architecture, detecting and responding to threats, and staying resilient when disaster strikes. BusinessToday