IR Soluciones warns that many companies are at a turning point in terms of cybersecurity. Although organizations are increasingly aware of the risks and have increased their investments in digital protection, the growth of cyberattacks, technological complexity and the need for constant surveillance are overwhelming the response capacity of many internal teams.
This reality is reflected in the latest study prepared by WatchGuard Technologies, carried out by IR Soluciones among more than 800 IT and cybersecurity professionals from 20 countries. According to the report, 75% of organizations suffered at least one cybersecurity cyberattack during the last year, while 91% acknowledge being concerned about the impact of cyberattacks powered by artificial intelligence. Furthermore, 54% say they do not have the capacity to offer continuous monitoring and response 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
«We are witnessing a paradigm shift. Companies are fully aware of the importance of cybersecurity, but the speed at which threats evolve makes it increasingly difficult to manage them solely with internal resources,” explains Rodrigo Martínez, head of Cybersecurity at IR Soluciones.
Cybersecurity becomes a business priority
The digitization of business processes, the adoption of cloud environments, corporate mobility and the growing use of tools based on artificial intelligence have considerably expanded the exposure surface of organizations to being able to suffer cyber attacks.
Added to this is an increasingly demanding regulatory context, driven by European regulations and the growing security requirements established by clients, suppliers and public administrations.
According to the WatchGuard report, 67% of organizations recognize they need additional support to meet increasing regulatory compliance demands. However, currently only 48% use specialized suppliers to complement the capabilities of their internal teams, which shows a growing gap between the real needs of companies and the resources they have available to face new cybersecurity challenges.
The study reveals that 44% of companies demand detection and response capabilities powered by artificial intelligence
«Cybersecurity can no longer be understood as an exclusively technical issue. Today it has a direct impact on business continuity, corporate reputation and the ability of organizations to continue operating normally in the event of any incident. Many companies are aware of this reality, but there is still significant room for improvement in terms of prevention, monitoring and response to threats,” says Rodrigo Martínez.
Artificial intelligence accelerates protection expectations
One of the main factors that is redefining the current landscape is the emergence of artificial intelligence applied to cybercrime. Tools capable of automating attacks, generating more sophisticated phishing campaigns or speeding up the search for vulnerabilities are raising the level of risk for companies.
As a consequence, organizations are also increasing their expectations regarding their protection strategies. The study reveals that 44% of companies demand detection and response capabilities powered by artificial intelligence and that the same percentage would be willing to invest more in this type of advanced solutions.
Additionally, areas that businesses believe need further strengthening include managed threat detection and response, vulnerability management, identity and access protection, network security, and advanced ransomware and disaster recovery systems.
Prevention, detection and response: the three essential layers
Faced with this scenario, IR Soluciones defends a cybersecurity model based on different layers of protection that combine prevention, detection and response capacity. The company considers it essential to reinforce aspects such as email protection, user awareness, perimeter security, identity management, continuous threat monitoring, and information backup and recovery systems.
«Zero risk does not exist. That is why the key is not only to try to avoid attacks, but to have the necessary capacity to detect them quickly, minimize their impact and guarantee the recovery of activity in the shortest possible time,” says Martínez.
Resilience will make the difference
According to the study, 75% of organizations plan to increase their investment in cybersecurity over the next two years, consolidating this matter as a strategic priority for the business. Among the aspects that companies value most are continuous monitoring, rapid response to incidents, advanced threat detection and employee training in good security practices.
“The organizations that will be best prepared in the coming years will not necessarily be those that incorporate the most technology, but rather those that are capable of building resilient cybersecurity models, aligned with their business objectives and prepared to respond to an increasingly complex threat environment,” concludes Rodrigo Martínez.
