· 60% of IT professionals in the Middle East region say unauthorized users can access their networks and 36% believe unauthorized users have access to their entire networks once a breach has occurred
· 54% of Middle East organizations have experienced a data breach in the past 12 months
· Focus needs to shift from securing the perimeter to securing the actual data
· 100% of Middle East organizations surveyed reported a breach within the last 5 years
Dubai - Despite the increasing number of data breaches and more than 3.9 billion data records worldwide being lost or stolen since 2013, organizations continue to believe that basic perimeter security technologies are effective against data breaches. This is one of the many findings of the third-annual Data Security Confidence Index released today by Gemalto, (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security.
Of the 1,100 IT decision makers surveyed worldwide, 50 were based in the Middle East. Of these respondents 94% said their perimeter security systems (firewall, IDPS, AV, content filtering, anomaly detection, etc.) were effective at keeping unauthorized users out of their network. Despite this, 54% said they have suffered from a perimeter security system breach in the past 12 months. Furthermore, 60% believe unauthorized users can access their network and 36% said unauthorized users could access their entire network, in the event of a data breach.
Over the last five years, the Middle Eastern organizations surveyed have incurred a total financial loss of approximately $1,493,590 due to system perimeter breaches. Subsequently, the average cost of detecting and fixing these breaches was approximately $35,232,000. Furthermore, organizations suffered from consequences such as delays in getting products and services to the market (56%); decreased customer confidence (38%) and the loss of a new or incremental business opportunity (32%). Despite these breaches, organizations continue to invest in perimeter security versus data protection.
"This research shows that there is indeed a big divide between perception and reality when it comes to the effectiveness of perimeter security," said Sebastien Pavie, Regional Director MENA, Identity and Data Protection, Gemalto. "The days of breach prevention are over, yet many IT organizations continue to rely on perimeter security as the foundation of their security strategies. The new reality is that IT professionals need to shift their mindset from breach prevention to breach acceptance and focus more on securing the breach by protecting the data itself and the users accessing the data."
Perimeter security is a focus, but not a panacea for data breaches
According to the research findings, 58% of IT decision makers said they would adjust their strategies as a result of high profile data breaches and allocate more spending to data security (encryption, fraud detection and/or key management). 52% said they had increased spending on perimeter security and believe that their current investments are going to the right security technologies.
Despite the increased focus on perimeter security, the findings show the reality many organizations face when it comes to preventing data breaches. All organizations surveyed in the Middle East - 100% of them - said their organizations experienced a breach at some time over the past five years. This suggests that organizations have not made significant improvements in reducing the number of data breaches despite increased investments in perimeter security.
"While companies are confident in the amount of spending and where they are spending it, it's clear the security protocols they are employing are not living up to expectations. While protecting the perimeter is important, organizations need to come to the realization that they need a layered approach to security in the event the perimeter is breached. By employing tools such as end-to-end encryption and two-factor authentication across the network and the cloud, they can protect the whole organization and, most importantly, the data," concluded Pavie.
To download the entire report, click here.
About the Survey
Independent technology market research specialist Vanson Bourne surveyed 1,100 IT decision makers across the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, India, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Benelux and the Middle East on behalf of Gemalto. The sample was split between Manufacturing, Healthcare, Financial Services, Government, Telecoms, Retail, Utilities, Consultation and Real Estate, Insurance and Legal, organizations with 250 to more than 5,000 employees.
Related Resources
· Infographic: Data Security Confidence Index - can be downloaded here
About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2015 annual revenues of €3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world.
Our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between.
Gemalto's solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software - enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things.
Our 14,000+ employees operate out of 118 offices, 45 personalization and data centers, and 27 research and software development centers located in 49 countries.
For more information visit www.gemalto.com or follow @gemalto on Twitter.
Gemalto media contacts:
Philippe Benitez
North America
+1 512 257 3869
philippe.benitez@gemalto.com
Peggy Edoire
Europe & CIS
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peggy.edoire@gemalto.com
Vivian Liang
大中华地区 (Greater China)
+86 1059373046
vivian.liang@gemalto.com
Ernesto Haikewitsch
Latin America
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ernesto.haikewitsch@gemalto.com
Kristel Teyras
Middle East & Africa
+33 1 55 01 57 89
kristel.teyras@gemalto.com
Shintaro Suzuki
Asia Pacific
+65 6317 8266
shintaro.suzuki@gemalto.com
© Press Release 2016
