Four – fifths (80%) of Indian organisations struggle to educate their leaders/ employees about cybersecurity: Sophos survey

• Sophos study of 900 business decision makers across Asia Pacific and Japan indicates COVID-19 accelerated period of digitisation and was a catalyst for improving cybersecurity, but systemic security issues persist
• More than half of Indian organisations confessed that they were not running up-to-date cybersecurity protection at the time of the most significant attack they suffered last year
• Executives assuming that the organisation will never get attacked is the top cybersecurity concern of Indian organisations 

Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, today announced the findings of the second edition of its survey report, The Future of Cybersecurity in Asia Pacific and Japan, in collaboration with Tech Research Asia (TRA). The study reveals that despite cyberattacks increasing, cybersecurity budgets have remained stagnant and executive teams continue to underestimate the level of damage threats can do to organisations.

In India, the survey identified the top cybersecurity frustration of IT leaders to be that executives assume that their organisation will never get attacked. This was followed by the assumption that even though their organisation may be compromised, there is nothing they can do to stop it. While attacks are increasing in frequency and severity, 80 per cent of Indian organisations confessed to struggle with providing adequate education to their leaders and employees regarding cybersecurity. Even more alarming, the findings found that 56 per cent of Indian organisations weren’t running up-to-date cybersecurity protection at the time of the most significant attack they suffered in the past year.

Adding his thoughts, Sunil Sharma, managing director – sales, Sophos India and SAARC, said, “At a time when data breaches and sophisticated cyberattacks like ransomware are growing at an alarming rate, cybersecurity preparedness is paramount. While businesses are waking up to take note of such attacks and working to secure their organisations, it is vital for them to educate their leaders and employees about the seriousness of cyberattacks. It is high time that cybersecurity is seen as adding value to the overall business and not as a cost. Business leaders should understand that their stakeholders, including customers, will trust them more if they know they are dealing with an organisation that follows best cybersecurity practices and that their data is safe. Organisations need to be more vigilant, educating their employees and leaders about cyber hygiene along with having the right cybersecurity tools, people and processes in place to minimise the impact.”

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About this research

Sophos commissioned Tech Research Asia (TRA) to undertake this research into the Asia Pacific and Japan cybersecurity landscape. This includes a major quantitative survey where a total of 900 responses were captured across Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. In addition to this, TRA captured qualitative insights from virtual roundtable events in Australia, India, Japan and Singapore (with ASEAN representation).

About Sophos

As a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects more than 400,000 organizations of all sizes in more than 150 countries from today’s most advanced cyber threats. Powered by SophosLabs and SophosAI – a global threat intelligence and data science team – Sophos’ cloud-native and AI-powered solutions secure endpoints (laptops, servers and mobile devices) and networks against evolving cyberattack techniques, including ransomware, malware, exploits, data exfiltration, active-adversary breaches, phishing, and more. Sophos Central, a cloud-native management platform, integrates Sophos’ entire portfolio of next-generation products, including the Intercept X endpoint solution and the XG next-generation firewall, into a single “synchronized security” system accessible through a set of APIs. Sophos has been driving a transition to next-generation cybersecurity, leveraging advanced capabilities in cloud, machine learning, APIs, automation, managed threat response, and more, to deliver enterprise-grade protection to any size organization. Sophos sells its products and services exclusively through a global channel of more than 53,000 partners and managed service providers (MSPs). Sophos also makes its innovative commercial technologies available to consumers via Sophos Home. The company is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

About Tech Research Asia

TRA is a fast-growing IT analyst, research, and consulting firm with an experienced and diverse team in Sydney | Melbourne | Singapore | Kuala Lumpur | Hong Kong | Tokyo. We advise executive technology buyers and suppliers across Asia Pacific. We are rigorous, fact-based, open, and transparent. And we offer research, consulting, engagement and advisory services. We also conduct our own independent research on the issues, trends, and strategies that are important to executives and other leaders that want to leverage the power of modern technology. TRA also publishes the open and online journal, TQ.