Workforce Key to Cybersecurity

A skilled cybersecurity workforce is one of government and industry's greatest defenses against cyber attacks, a new study suggests.

The new 2011 Cybersecurity Watch Survey conducted by CSO magazine and sponsored by Deloitte, found that unintentional exposure of private or sensitive information has significantly declined since 2010, in part because of increased training for cybersecurity workers (65 percent) and the implementation of tools like data loss prevention (65 percent).

"Employees and the technologies they enable are the best line of defense for cybersecurity attacks to reduce organizational risk," said Bob Bragdon, publisher of CSO magazine. "The continued effort to empower employees to recognize risks, and the process to report or deter a problem, has been a reason why organizations are more prepared for these attacks and there is optimism that the evolution of preparedness will continue."

The survey of more than 600 business and government executives also found that while organizations are encountering more cybersecurity events, the events on average are costing significantly less than they did a year ago. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they have seen an increase in the number of cybersecurity events, while 19 percent were not impacted by any attacks, compared to 40 percent in the 2010 study.

The survey also found that 58 percent of attacks are caused by outsiders versus 21 percent of attacks caused by insiders, including employees or contractors with authorized access; 21 percent come from an unknown source. Thirty-three percent of respondents said they believe insider attacks are more costly, particularly as they become more sophisticated.