Skybox Security Reports 73% of Executives Concerned Over Distributed Workforce Security Risks

Research uncovers critical cybersecurity and compliance risks

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Skybox^® Security, a global leader in cybersecurity management, today released research revealing that 73% of security and IT executives are concerned about new vulnerabilities and risks introduced by the distributed workforce. The report also uncovered an alarming disconnect between confidence in security posture and increased cyberattacks during the global pandemic.

To protect employees from COVID-19, enterprises rapidly shifted to make work from home possible and maintain business productivity. Forced to accelerate digital transformation initiatives, this created the perfect storm. Skybox Research Lab discovered that 2020 will be a record-breaking year for new vulnerabilities with a 34% increase year-over-year – a leading indicator for the growth of future attacks.

As a result, security teams now have more to protect than ever before. Surveying 295 global executives, the Skybox 2020 "Cybersecurity in the new normal" report found that organizations are overconfident in their security posture, and new strategies are needed to secure a long-term distributed workforce.

Key observations

• Deprioritized security tasks increase risk: Over 30% of security executives said software updates and BYOD policies were deprioritized. Further, 42% noted reporting was deprioritized since the onset of the pandemic.
• Enterprises can't keep up with the pace: 32% had difficulties validating if network and security configurations undermined security posture. 55% admitted that it was at least moderately difficult for them to validate network and security configurations did not increase risk.
• Security teams are overconfident in security posture: Only 11% confirmed they could confidently maintain a holistic view of their organizations' attack surfaces. Shockingly, 93% of security executives were still confident that changes were correctly validated.
• The distributed workforce is here to stay: 70% of respondents projected that at least one-third of their employees will remain remote 18 months from now. 

"Traditional detect-and-respond approaches are no longer enough. A radical new approach is needed – one that is rooted in the development of preventative and prescriptive vulnerability and threat management practices," said Gidi Cohen, co-founder and CEO, Skybox Security. "To advance change, it is integral that everything, including data and talent, is working towards enriching the security program as a whole."

To download the full report, visit: https://www.skyboxsecurity.com/security-transformation/

Additional resources

• White paper – Cybersecurity in the new normal: securing the distributed workforce and remote operations
• Blog post – See the bigger picture to secure the distributed workforce
• Report – Accelerated digital transformation: a catalyst for security transformation

About Skybox Security
Over 700 of the largest and most security-conscious enterprises in the world rely on Skybox for the insights and assurance required to stay ahead of dynamically changing attack surfaces. At Skybox, we don't just serve up data and information. We provide the intelligence and context to make informed decisions, taking the guesswork out of securely enabling enterprises at scale and speed. Our unified security posture management platform delivers complete visibility, analytics and automation to quickly map, prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities across your organization. The vendor-agnostic platform intelligently optimizes security policies, actions and change process across all corporate networks and cloud environments. With Skybox, security teams can now focus on the most strategic business initiatives while ensuring enterprises remain protected.

We are Skybox. Secure more, limit less. www.skyboxsecurity.com

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Media Contact
Ashley Nakano
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
ashley.nakano@skyboxsecurity.com 

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