Mimecast, the global email and collaboration security company, published its annual State of Email Security 2023 (SOES) report this week. The global survey, based on responses from 1,700 IT and security decision-makers, provides readers with key takeaways on the current threat landscape and offers recommendations to help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture.
The highlights from the 2023 SOES report include the following:
1. Increased cyber awareness in the C-suite
Business leaders across the globe have become increasingly more aware of the danger cyberattacks pose and are demonstrating a greater willingness to confront the risk. In fact, data breaches are viewed as an even greater business risk than climate change, inflation or another financial crisis according to Forbes. To that end, 94% of respondents reported they need stronger protections for their Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace applications, and two-thirds say their company needs to spend more on cybersecurity. With the increased focus on cyber preparedness by the C-suite, CISOs feel more empowered to articulate their requirements and implement strategies and tactics that will make their organization more secure.
2. Collaboration tools, essential but risky
Most SOES participants (90%) agree that collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack are essential to their working function, but 75% believe they pose new threats and create new security loopholes. The majority believe their native collaboration tool security is insufficient to meet their needs, and 72% of respondents believe their organization will be harmed by a collaboration-tool-based attack in the coming year. The need to put security measures in place to protect these tools must be top of mind for CISOs and will certainly be on the list of asks for the C-suite this year.
3. Improved cyber preparedness
There is a growing realization that cyber risk isn’t just an IT problem — it’s a critical vulnerability that directly equates to overall business risk. As such, organizations are taking the necessary measures to prepare for impending attacks. 49% are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help under-resourced teams stay ahead of the curve, while 50% said they are relying less on cyber insurance and investing more in their own cyber defenses.
Read Mimecast’s complete State of Email Security 2023 report here.
