Cybersecurity vulnerability is at all-time high, and only one in five organizations can handle an attack “very well,” according to new research from audit and advisory firm KPMG LLP and recruitment firm and IT outsourcing provider Harvey Nash Inc.
Approximately two-thirds (64%) of the 4,498 global CIOs and technology leaders that the firms surveyed between December 2016 and April 2017 are adapting their technology strategies in the midst of unprecedented global political and economic uncertainty. The proportion of organizations surveyed that now have enterprise-wide digital strategies increased 52% in just two years, and those organizations with a chief digital officer have increased 39% over last year, according to the study.
To help deliver these complex digital strategies, organizations also report a huge demand for enterprise architects—the fastest growing technology skill this year, up 26% compared with 2016.
Approximately one third of the IT leaders (32%) reported that their organization had been subject to a major cyber attack in the past 24 months, a 45% increase from 2013. Only one in five (21%) said they are “very well” prepared to respond to these attacks, down from 29% in 2014. The biggest rise in threats comes from insider attacks, increasing from 40% to 47% over last year.
“From an organizational and cultural perspective, the CIO is now faced with a full transformation to digital, enterprise-wide,” said Bob Miano, president and CEO at Harvey Nash. This full-scale move to a digital environment is increasing data vulnerability.
“Digital is without question the CIO’s priority. But especially for legacy organizations, leading this change to a complete, unified digital strategy is top of mind,” Nash said.
While the fastest-growing demand for a technology skill this year was enterprise architecture, big data/analytics remained the most in-demand skill, at 42%, up eight percent over last year.
