Almost Six In 10 APAC Companies Plan To Outsource Cybersecurity Next Year: Kaspersky

A study by Kaspersky has found that IT security decision makers are boosting their cybersecurity following an alarming increase in cyberattacks recently. Kaspersky data showed that more than three-quarters (77%) of companies suffered at least one cyber incident in the past two years. 

Among other measures to strengthen cybersecurity, 41% of global respondents said that their companies plan to invest in outsourcing cybersecurity in the next 12-18 months. Cybersecurity outsourcing is a more common strategy in the Asia-Pacific, with 57% of APAC respondents saying that their organisations plan to invest in outsourcing cybersecurity over the next 12-18 months. 

Skills Shortages, One Of Main Reasons For Rising Cyber Incidents  

One of the primary reasons cited for the rise in cyber incidents was the shortage of qualified cybersecurity staff. Skills shortage (18%) was given the same level of impact as hackers installing trojans (18%) by respondents. 

Three-quarters of organisations around the world reported cybersecurity skills shortages as a serious issue, to varying degrees. Almost one-quarter (24%) said the issue was “very serious". In the APAC region, this number rose to 87%. 

Addressing Gaps In Cybersecurity

Respondents indicated that a variety of measures would be required to address cybersecurity gaps. Among them, 24% want more external specialists to be brought on board. 

Twenty-five percent of organisations plan to invest in third-party professional services, and 23% are aiming to outsource their cybersecurity to managed service providers or managed security service providers. The most likely industries to invest in third-party services in the near future are critical infrastructure, energy, and oil and gas companies.  

Many organisations also plan to invest in automation of their cybersecurity processes. In the next 12 months, 45% of businesses globally have concrete plans to implement software that automatically manages their cybersecurity, while 20% were discussing the subject.  

To manage the shortage of tools or IT security employees in-house, Kaspersky recommended that enterprises make use of expertise offered by managed security service providers. 

“The automation and outsourcing of cybersecurity tasks are major areas that organisations struggle with due to a lack of experts and alert fatigue,” said Ivan Vassunov, vice president of corporate products, Kaspersky. “Cybersecurity vendors, managed service providers, managed security service providers are the companies that have relevant expertise, all the necessary tools, and can manage cybersecurity effectively for customers of any size.”