Most Indian businesses live in the fear of cyber threats thanks to employee errors

• British security firm Sophos released a report The Future of Cybersecurity in Asia Pacific and Japan – Culture, Efficiency, Awareness.
• The report said 63% of Indian companies are concerned about being exposed to cyberthreats due to employee errors.
• Only 43% of Indian companies have a dedicated budget for cybersecurity.

Cyber security is worrying Indian companies. As many as 63% of them are concerned that their employees would leave them vulnerable to attacks.

This is as per a The Future of Cybersecurity in Asia Pacific and Japan – Culture, Efficiency, Awareness report by Sophos, a British security software and hardware company.

The report further said that 66% of decision makers in companies realise that the lack of security expertise is a challenge they face. Moreover, 69% also face challenges in recruitment, while 66% find it difficult ‘to stay up to date with cybersecurity technologies’.

As companies turn to digital innovation, the need for cybersecurity too rises. However, only 43% of Indian companies have a dedicated budget for cybersecurity, the report said.

“As the threat landscape evolves, businesses too need to advance their defense mechanisms with synchronized security solutions that are designed to strengthen their cybersecurity posture,” said Sunil Sharma, managing director, sales, Sophos India & SAARC.

An EY Global Information Security Survey (EY GISS) 2018-19 – India edition released in February also had said that only 19% of Indian companies have a sufficient budget to provide the levels of cybersecurity and resilience as required. But 70% said that they plan to increase the budgets soon.

“Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and while IT teams must be proactive in their response to cyberthreats; aware and knowledgeable employees and leadership teams pave the way for organisations to better detect, protect and respond,” said Sharma.