Businesses are feeling the effects of cyberattacks hard; a staggering 90% of CISOs report that their organisation has experienced one during the past year.
In the latest research from Splunk, 83% of CISOs who responded to a poll stated they have paid out, with more than half paying more than $100,000.
They fear that generative AI will become more prevalent and provide attackers an advantage. However, companies are testing out such tools in their cyber defences, with 93% of their processes utilising automation either moderately or intensively.
Splunk claims that the so-called "tool sprawl" issue, which is "likely compounding existing visibility issues," is another issue that is now emerging. A whopping 88% of CISOs seek to stop the expansion using tools like security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) and security information and event management (SIEM).
By using solutions like these, they seek to reduce the number of tools required and simplify defence through automation.
Nearly half of the CISOs who responded to the survey also stated that they now directly report to their CEO, with CISOs being increasingly in charge of directing cybersecurity strategy. They frequently take part in board meetings across all sectors. Additionally, 90% of CISOs reported that their board is now more concerned about cybersecurity than it was two years ago.
As a result, 93% of CISOs anticipate an increase in their cybersecurity budget over the next year, whereas 83% anticipate decreases in other areas of the organisation. 80% of CISOs say their organisation has encountered additional dangers as the economy has deteriorated.
Greater collaboration has also happened across the organisation, with 92% of CISOs reporting that cybersecurity collaboration between teams has increased moderately or significantly as a result of digital transformation projects and cloud native adoption.
Although 42% of respondents felt there was room for improvement in terms of results, 77% reported that IT and development teams worked together to identify the underlying causes of issues.
Splunk CISO Jason Lee stated that, "the C-Suite and board of directors are increasingly relying on CISOs for guidance across a sophisticated threat landscape and changing market conditions," further stating, "these relationships provide CISOs the opportunity to become champions who strengthen an organization's security culture and lead teams to become more cross-collaborative and resilient."
"By communicating key security metrics, CISOs can also guide boards on adopting emerging technologies, such as generative AI, to help improve cyber defense management and prepare for the future," Lee concluded.
