The Hidden Risks of Shadow IT: How to Detect and Manage Unauthorized Technology
Learn how to detect and manage shadow IT to protect your business from data breaches, compliance violations, and cyber insurance coverage gaps.
Businesses are making notable strides in maturing their cybersecurity architectures, with the average maturity score rising by 3 points to reach 49 out of 100. On average, companies are allocating 5.6% of their IT budgets to cybersecurity, with less mature sectors investing more to catch up.
The increase in spending responds to emerging threats. Five trends from the 2023 Cyber Benchmark show how the market is maturing.
1. Pushing back against ransomware
Businesses are adapting to ransomware threats, reducing the number of vulnerable organizations. Only 23% are considered at critical risk of ransomware attacks. Financial services and energy lead in maturity, while service and public-sector organizations have the most critical exposure due to the volume of personal data they hold.
2. Maturing detection and response
Investments in improved tools and processes are making incident response faster and more effective. Key investments include detection probes connected to SIEM platforms, standardized crisis contingencies, and improved indicator-of-compromise (IOC) data architectures.
3. Focus on cloud security technologies
As workloads move to the cloud, organizations are investing in cloud posture management, identity controls, and monitoring that keeps pace with how quickly cloud environments change.
4. Stagnating third-party security
Although businesses rely heavily on third-party providers, adoption of tighter security clauses in contracts has not grown, and supplier audits are lagging.
5. Industrial security gaining ground
Heavy investment in operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) is accelerating the maturity of basic infrastructure. Companies are deploying firewalls, integrating cybersecurity teams into industrial operations, and building demilitarized zones (DMZs) for advanced filtering and access control.
There’s still room to improve: only 58% of companies have shifted to dedicated ICS administration tools, and just 37% feed their OT security logs into an integrated SIEM.
Know where you stand
To build an effective long-term strategy, you need to understand where you stand compared with your peers. A FocusConnect risk assessment helps you evaluate your cybersecurity maturity and make informed investment decisions.
