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How Organizations are Tackling Cyber Challenges: Takeaways

from the Cybersecurity Imperative

Joe Gittens, Director of Standards, Security Industry Association

The physical security industry has joined other business sectors in fully embracing the age of digital
transformation. As innovative ways of accessing, creating and processing information radically change
the expectations of customers, enterprises are spending vast resources on their digital transformation
strategies. While this fast-paced technological revolution is proving to add value to the top and bottom
lines of businesses, attention to cybersecurity needs to be baked into the process – and cybersecurity is
often overlooked by those companies that are beginning this journey. The Security Industry Association
has joined business and technology leaders such as HP, Baker Mackenzie and The Wall Street Journal
in supporting a first-of-its-kind research study, The Cybersecurity Imperative. The study, conducted by
independent research company ESI ThoughtLab, collected data from a wide sample of over 1,300 global
companies to provide cybersecurity benchmarking on how organizations are tackling cyber challenges
via focuses on people and technology while in the throes of the new industrial revolution.

You cannot go to an industry trade show or trade press without being inundated with messages about
the rise of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, open application platforms and the
Internet of Things. While the business potential of these technologies is obvious, The Cybersecurity
Imperative found a strong correlation between the digital maturity of a business (identified by maturity on
the National Institute of Standards and Technology framework) and its cyber risk exposure. Particularly
frightening, the study showed that over half of the companies that were digital leaders on the business
end were not cybersecurity leaders. This combination of rapid digital expansion and lagging cybersecurity
posture could be a powder keg, and the problem is expected to grow: new technologies mean new vendor
partners. While only one in five businesses are currently concerned about the likelihood of being attacked

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