More than 80% of cybersecurity professionals cite cyber complexity and increased workload as a reason their job is more difficult now than it was two years ago1. At the same time, the median dwell time for ransomware has dropped to less than 24 hours, and cybercrime is expected to cost the world $9.5 trillion USD in 2024.
As the global threat landscape continues evolving, the priorities and objectives for most organizations are not the same as they were a year ago. On top of that, no two organizations are alike, and as they continue to evolve they encounter new challenges that are often difficult to solve internally or with existing one-size-fits-all solutions.
Here are some of the common issues the Secureworks® team has seen increase in prevalence over the past year:
1. Unique Use Cases Outpacing Internal and Vendor Capabilities
The top priority for any security team is straightforward: keep the organization safe from threat actors. But effective security goes beyond basic threat detection and response to include specific use cases that are based on an organization’s unique needs. There are reports to generate for internal stakeholders like executive leadership or the board of directors, and others to demonstrate compliance to regulators and auditors. There are integrations needed following an acquisition of a new company or new technology. Internal security teams often don’t have the time or the required skills to easily accomplish these additional tasks on top of their daily responsibilities. More than one in three cybersecurity professionals cite an overwhelming workload as the most stressful aspect of their job1.
2. Extending the Value of Cybersecurity Investments
Organizations invest in security solutions with the right intentions: they need help, and the solution they purchase should provide that help. But in their day-to-day duties of keeping the organization safe, security teams often don’t have the time to dive into a provider’s technology and capabilities to optimize the solution to fit specific needs and maximize impact. Can you enable automation to reset passwords if specific activity is detected? Security teams are stretched beyond the limit. Nearly four in 10 organizations claim a lack of security resources leads to the inability for their staff to learn or utilize security technologies to their full potential1.
3. Shifting to Proactive Security
Having a strong detection and response solution is commonplace, but it is still largely a reactive posture to take. Organizations should also have a desire to be well prepared for a bad day before that bad day happens. They want to fortify their defenses when there isn’t a threat knocking at the door. They want to assess their security, test their capabilities to fend off attacks and mature their security program. Having a proactive mindset takes time and resources up front, but it puts organizations in a much stronger position to deal with an attack or worst-case scenarios.
4. Expanding Internal Teams
For many organizations, expanding their internal cybersecurity team just isn’t realistic. The cybersecurity skills shortage continues with an estimated 3.5 million2 open jobs, and it’s expected to hold steady for the foreseeable future. Finding qualified resources is one thing; actually hiring the right person with the skill sets to advance a security program is another challenge. It’s expensive from both a financial and time perspective, with no guarantee you won’t be trying to fill that position again next year — or next quarter.
Potential Solutions to Address
So how can organizations address each of these problem areas? There are a few choices:
- Increase your cybersecurity budget to be able to hire and retain the staff needed to address them. However, even two fully loaded security experts would cost an estimated $500,000 per year, not to mention the required tools to fulfill the needs noted above.
- Leverage a combination of managed and consulting services to provide 24/7 detection and response capabilities, plus likely some professional services for custom use case support, plus assessment and testing services to ensure everything is where it should be.
- Use a managed detection and response (MDR) solution that provides services beyond a traditional MDR, that is more cost effective than hiring additional staff and more efficient than using point solutions.
If the third option sounds appealing, enter Secureworks® Taegis™ ManagedXDR Plus. This new solution helps organizations that don’t have the in-house staff, time, or expertise to keep pace with their evolving cybersecurity needs. Taegis ManagedXDR Plus contains everything included in our award-winning MDR solution, Taegis ManagedXDR, along with expanded capabilities that deliver a more-tailored solution featuring the increased vigilance, improved resiliency, and strategic guidance that enables organizations to meet their unique security requirements.
Secureworks has spent a quarter-century meeting organizations like yours where they are in their security journey, helping them secure their missions. Interested in learning more about Taegis ManagedXDR Plus? Read the data sheet today.
Footnotes:
1 - The Life and Times of Cybersecurity Professionals, Vol. VI, 2023. ESG research report, August 2023
2 - Boardroom Cybersecurity Report, Cybersecurity Ventures. December 2023