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New LogRhythm research has found that 94 per cent of Security Leaders in the Asia-Pacific region do not report directly to CEOs and lack the influence required to shore up security strategies.
The research has found the roles and responsibilities of cyber security leaders, found that more than half of organisations (over 55 per cent) in Asia-Pacific (APAC) have experienced a cyber attack in the last two years and spend an average of US$17 million each on security activities.
Out of these organisations, 43 per cent of respondents believe that cyber security leaders should be held most accountable for preventing or mitigating the consequence of a cyber attack, compared with the CEO (18 per cent) or both the CEO and cyber security leader (22 per cent).
Despite shouldering more responsibility and risk, cyber security leaders are held the most accountable for cyber attacks, according to Joanne Wong, vice president of international markets at LogRhythm.
“In today’s fast-evolving cyber threatscape, security leaders are assuming more responsibility and bearing more risks,” Wong said.
“Without organisational visibility and a direct line of contact with their CEO and board of directors, they lack the influence to implement a holistic and mature security program.”
Cyber security leaders in APAC assume greater accountability and risk for ensuring a strong security posture in the past year (61 per cent), compared with the global average (56 per cent).
Specifically, cyber security leaders in this region believe that they must contend with risks like phishing and social engineering attacks (61 per cent), ransomware (59 per cent) and device vulnerabilities (58 per cent).
While 60 per cent of respondents believe that cyber security leaders should report directly to the CEO, only 6 per cent of security leaders in APAC actually do.
On average, they are three levels away from the CEO, which poses challenges in ensuring that the leadership have an accurate and complete understanding of security risks facing the organisation.
“It is crucial that organisations recognise the need to adopt cyber security priorities as a central plank in their business strategy, and empower their cybersecurity leaders and team with the support and resources they need to safeguard their business effectively,” Wong added.
Without securing buy-in from their senior leadership, cyber security leaders struggle to establish authority and establish their desired security posture.
In fact, only 37 per cent of respondents in the region agree that their organisation values and effectively leverages the expertise of their cyber security, compared with 43 per cent globally.
This lack of understanding from senior leadership (52 per cent) and executive support (51 per cent) have subsequently been identified as key factors leading to concerns around job security.
Across the region, close to 70 per cent of organisations have more than a quarter of their employees and contractors working remotely. Over 69 per cent of the respondents, the highest globally, have indicated that their biggest security challenge today is securing the remote workforce.
[Related: archTIS to boost national security agency support]
Nastasha is a Journalist at Momentum Media, she reports extensively across veterans affairs, cyber security and geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific. She is a co-author of a book titled The Stories Women Journalists Tell, published by Penguin Random House. Previously, she was a Content Producer at Verizon Media, a Digital Producer for Yahoo! and Channel 7, a Digital Journalist at Sky News Australia, as well as a Website Manager and Digital Producer at SBS Australia. Nastasha started her career in media as a Video Producer and Digital News Presenter at News Corp Australia.
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