The cyber threat landscape is growing and increasing in complexity. The sophistication and frequency of attacks continues to increase, heightening the pressure on IT staff and IT security professionals.

Yet, for those assets deemed critical, the concern is even higher. In sectors such as banking, healthcare, energy, and education, certain IT assets pose a particular threat, and their loss or theft could result in devastating consequences for the organization, its customers, and wider society.

Just how great are these risks and how can organizations protect against them? What toll do these pressures take on individuals responsible? Questions like these are what led to a new study conducted by independent research firm Vanson Bourne, sponsored by Telos Corporation.

Key findings from the study include:

• 99% believe an attack on their critical IT assets would have repercussions for their organizations, and 99% believe there would be repercussions for wider society.
• 83% of organizations have experienced a successful cyber attack in the past 2 years, with 50% reporting the attackers managed to reach critical IT assets.
• 99% believe they need to improve their ability to prevent an attacker from accessing critical assets once they have broken into the network.
• 95% of those who have segmented and protected their critical IT assets believe they are better protected as a result.
• Yet 93% believe the tools they are currently using to protect their segmented assets are not sufficient.
• 86% of respondents admit to having been kept awake at night by concerns about the protection of critical IT assets.
• 36% of organizations are very concerned that their organization will experience an attack on its critical IT assets in the next 6 months; however, among those using network obfuscation tools, this drops to 24%.

Learn more about the heightened threat of cyber attacks on critical IT assets and what organizations are doing about it by downloading the ebook, Evolution of Critical IT Asset Protection – 2021 Report.