Trend Micro Survey Confirms Organizations Struggle With A Lack Of Security Talent And Tidal Waves Of Threat Alerts

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today reported survey results that the ongoing and often detrimental shortage of cybersecurity talent has led a majority of organizations to turn outward for help. This is most often seen through automating technology, increasing training programs, and outsourcing detection and prevention.

Regardless of their size, organizations today share a common challenge: IT security teams are understaffed and overextended. The number of security alerts, the challenge of what to prioritize, and the shortage of expertise can be overwhelming and introduce risk.

The research – which surveyed 1,125 IT decision makers across the globe¹ – shows that 69 percent of organizations agree that automating cybersecurity tasks using Artificial Intelligence (AI) would reduce the impact from the lack of security talent. This comes after 64 percent of organizations experienced increased cyber threats in the last year.

“Protecting the enterprise from cyber threats is like a game of whack-a-mole,” said Ian Heritage, a cybersecurity architect at Trend Micro. “Not only do IT and security teams have to maintain constant vigilance on their cyber defenses, they also have to communicate these risks to business leaders to ensure sufficient budgets, and don their HR hats to recruit the necessary skill sets. The CISO’s role is harder than ever before and the demand has never been higher for automated and hosted solutions.”

From the survey, 63 percent of IT decision makers plan to leverage AI technology to automate their security processes. However, while AI can effectively handle data processing, trained cybersecurity professionals are needed to analyze the results and manage the overall security strategy.

According to Gartner² , “The shortage of skilled security professionals has been a perennial problem that consistently results in failed security technology deployments. The number of unfilled cybersecurity roles is expected to grow from 1 million in 2018 to 1.5 million by the end of 2020.”

The Gartner report continues, “Most organizations are struggling to fill the open positions they have, let alone retain skilled staff. Managed detection and response (MDR) services are filling the need of organizations of all sizes that lack internal security resources and expertise, and want to expand their investments beyond preventive security technologies to address their detection, response and 24/7 monitoring gaps.”

To help solve this business problem, Trend Micro tackles both the technology and people needs of the skills gap. Companies are increasingly adopting Trend Micro’s MDR and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions to streamline visibility, prioritize threats and optimize the time and talent of in-house teams.

¹ Countries surveyed include: UK, US, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, France, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Czech Republic

² Gartner, Top Security and Risk Management Trends, 31 January 2019

 

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud workloads, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and investigation, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat research and intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.