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PwC Survey: New Tech, Employee Training Top Executive Cybersecurity Lists

Better employee training, advanced authentication in lieu of passwords, and better cybersecurity safeguards with the Interne of Things (IoT) in mind are all on the list for American business executives, according to a new cybersecurity report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

A full 56% of those surveyed for the “Global State of Information Security Survey 2017” said they currently require employees to complete privacy training, to help head off data security problems before they start, and instead o passwords, 57% of respondents said they’ve now turned to biometrics and other advanced authentication technologies, to add an extra layer of security.

Meanwhile, the most-cited cybersecurity threat among respondents was phishing, with 43% of businesses reporting at least one phishing incident, and 46% of respondents said they see new potential cybersecurity problems with the advance of IoT technologies, and are investing in a security strategy accordingly.

“There is a distinct transformation in how business leaders are viewing cybersecurity and technology — no longer seeing technology as a threat and understanding that cybersecurity is a vital component that must be adopted into the business framework,” said David Burg, PwC’s U.S. and global leader for cybersecurity and privacy. “To remain competitive, organizations today must make a budgetary commitment to the integration of cybersecurity with digitization from the outset.”

The survey also found that nearly two-thirds of businesses are now running IT services in the cloud, and a third said they’re entrusting finance and operations to cloud providers. Both those stats show a growing trust in cloud models, Burg said.

“The fusion of advanced technologies with cloud architectures can empower organizations to quickly identify and respond to threats, better understand customers and the business ecosystem, and ultimately reduce costs,” Burg said. “Cloud models have become more popular in recent years, and that trend will likely only continue as the benefits become increasingly clear.”

The survey also found that 53% of respondents use open-source software and 62% said they use managed security services, for cybersecurity and privacy, to help with things like authentication, data loss prevention and identity management.

“Designing and implementing a cybersecurity and privacy program is challenging enough, but once a program is in place components must be thoroughly integrated, professionally managed and continuously improved. As this can be difficult for resource-constrained organizations, many are adopting managed security services and utilizing open-source software,” said Bob Bragdon, SVP and publisher of CSO, which co-authored the report.

For more on the report, click here.