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Report: Pros urged to roll out IT projects before they are security-ready

IT security professionals report that they are regularly pressured to roll out new technologies and devices regardless of whether they are secure, according to a new survey. "The Security Pressures Report," released Wednesday by Trustwave, found that 77 percent of professionals say they are rushed to implement security projects before they are security-ready.

It makes sense to adequately test those systems, Cas Purdy, vice president of corporate marketing at Trustwave told SCMagazine.com.

The study, now in its third year, explored the professional and personal pressures faced by cybersecurity professionals in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and Singapore (Professionals in Australia and Singapore were added to the survey this year).

“The security field is now being evaluated and prioritized by company leadership who believe cyberattacks can inhibit corporate growth,” the report stated. The largest group of security pros (59 percent) said company owners, boards of directors and C-suite executives exert the greatest pressure on security decisions.

The outcomes of cyber attacks that respondents were most concerned with underscored this pressure. Only 43 percent of those surveyed were primarily concerned by the potential theft of customer data (compared to 53 percent the previous year), while 22 percent of those surveyed were concerned by the potential theft of intellectual property (compared to 21 percent last year). Surprisingly, 13 percent of participants were concerned by the risk of their being website taken offline, more than double the seven percent of participants who gave the same response last year.

Security professionals polled in the study said the two biggest insider threats are unauthorized transfer of files from email or the cloud (31 percent) and unauthorized installation of software or malware (24 percent). Purdy said the finding that Internet of Things (IoT) was ranked second as the technology respondents are most pressured to implement – behind the cloud – was the “biggest eye-opener” of the study.

“Every month there is a new magical solution to your problems,” he said. “If you don't have the resources, budget, or skills to effectively manage those solutions, they are not going to do you any good.”

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