‘Attackers will always find a way past the perimeter’, but top execs still woefully ill-prepared to mitigate hacking attacks, study finds

Top executives and IT professionals are naïve when it comes to the risk of cyber attacks, with almost half living under the mistaken belief they can fully protect their networks from hackers, according to a global security survey.

C-suite executives lack sufficient understanding of cyber attacks, with 44 per cent of business leaders believing it is possible to keep hackers out of their network, according to the 9th Annual Global Threat Landscape Survey by CyberArk, which was released on Wednesday. 

A further 25 per cent of respondents believed it was possible to detect intruders within hours when in reality it can take 200 days to uncover threats, the report found.

“Protecting against cyber attacks isn’t just about protecting data, it’s also about protecting the ability to continue conducting business as usual,” said Jack Poon, regional director for Greater China of CyberArk Software. 

“CEOs and other executives must become more engaged in security decisions.”

CyberArk’s survey found that 61 per cent of respondents reported that a “privileged account takeover” was the most difficult form of cyber attack to guard against, up from 44 per cent in 2014.