Fortinet- South Africa’s cyber security has caught up

On Thursday 26 October 2017, cybersecurity company, Fortinet, revealed the findings of the company’s 2017 Global Enterprise Security Survey. The survey aimed to uncover the attitudes of companies around the world towards cybersecurity.

The global survey was conducted across 16 countries in August 2017 and saw 1,801 qualified IT decision makers with responsibility/visibility of IT security at organisations larger than 250 employees participate. Among the participants, 800 were EMEA-based from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Poland, Middle East and South Africa.

The survey also provided great insight into where South African companies lie in comparison with the rest of the world in terms of cybersecurity.

Survey stats summary
The survey revealed the increase in cyber crimes over the past two years, 85% globally and 82% of South African businesses have been victims of a security breach over that period of time. This is what has led to the change of attitudes among IT decision makers that are apparent throughout the survey.

• IT Investments: Globally 71% of participants have increased their IT budget over the last year, 28% has stayed the same and only 1% has decreased. In South Africa 76% of participants have increased their IT budget, 22% has stayed the same and 2% has decreased the budget.
• Investment Areas: Globally 23% of the participants have invested in security staff, 34% on auditing, 52% on training and educating, 57% on implementing new processes, 60% on news security solutions and 67% on upgrading existing security solutions. From a South African perspective, 28% of the companies in the survey invested in new security hires, 39% on auditing, 54% on training and education, 50% on implementing new process, 56% spent on new security solutions and 81% on upgrading existing security solutions.
• Board reaction to breaches: Globally 77% of boards looked at security processes while 67% looked at the budget. In South Africa, 86% of boards looked at the processes while 61% looked at the budget.
• Still not a priority: Globally 48% and in South Africa, 42% of participants said that security is still not a priority in the boardroom.
• Cloud Security investment: 50% of global and 40% of SA respondents are planning investment in cloud security in the next 12 months.
• Procedures and educational activities: 52% of global and 54% of SA organizations have invested in employee security awareness training this year.

Paul Williams, Southern Africa Country Manager at Fortinet speaking on the report from a South Africa perspective said, “South Africa has really caught up to the rest of the world in terms of security focus within their IT departments. This has also been met with an added accountability on a board level when there is a breach in security.

The report also highlighted the lack of cybersecurity basics, ongoing and future challenges and a decision makers wishlist. You can view the full report here.

By Dean Workman
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