Research: As overseas business operations grow so do concerns over cyberwarfare and cybersecurity

From elections and banks to desktop computers and servers—no person or business is immune from a cybersecurity or cyberwarfare attack. How do companies fight back? In November 2018, TechRepublic Premium surveyed 248 professionals to discover how companies prevent and react to cyberwarfare and cybersecurity attacks. TechRepublic Premium last conducted a similar survey in 2016.

Survey respondents answered the following questions:
How concerned are you with cyberwarfare attacks versus general security issues?
When it comes to general security, which of the following do you consider to be the weakest link within your company?
If implemented, which of the following would do the most to improve your company’s overall security?
Do you feel doing business internationally presents an added challenge to security?
What is the single biggest security challenge when doing business internationally?
Which, if any, of the following attacks, has your company been the victim of in the past 12 months?
In what ways has/is your company working with a government agency on the attack?

Overall, survey results showed that cyberwarfare remains a large area of concern for IT professionals. Of survey respondents, 86% were highly or moderately concerned with cyberwarfare attacks more than they were with general security risks. In 2016, only 14% of respondents were slightly worried about cyberwarfare; 16% weren’t worried at all.

This may be attributed to the expanding global business environment. Despite only 41% of respondents participating in overseas business, 86% of respondents believe doing business internationally presented added security challenges.

Back in 2016, mobile devices were considered a company’s weak security link. In 2018, 44% percent of respondents found end users to be their company’s weakest security link (only 13% attributed the weakest link to mobile devices). This is most likely due to the understanding that devices don’t cause security breaches; end users’ actions and ignorance regarding security policies do.

To read all of the results from the survey, plus analysis, download the full report here: ZDNet/TechRepublic special feature. For details on future TechRepublic Premium surveys, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

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November 28, 2018
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