No one can deny that information security made headlines this year, but those high-profile attacks don’t tell the whole story. According to recent research by Gartner, the major attacks and data breaches that enterprises experienced throughout 2017 are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cybersecurity news.

Examining Cybersecurity News

The firm’s research director, Jeff Wheatman told TechRepublic that the next five to 10 years will see a new range of threats to corporate organizations. In fact, Gartner predicted that by 2021 an enterprise will suffer a business outage due to malware and ransomware that results in $1 billion in lost revenue.

Enterprises must consider how the dependencies that come with partnering with in an ever-growing pool of providers will affect their own cybersecurity. To avoid becoming the next piece of cybersecurity news, IT leaders must assess the security posture of their third-party providers.

Beware of the Ripple Effect

Digital transformation has led to a major shift in enterprise technology ecosystems. The posture of partner organizations becomes increasingly important as the ecosystem expands.

Wheatman noted that key partners are often connected to hundreds of other suppliers. While IT leaders will likely have no direct interaction with many of these companies, the security approach of these disparate organizations could have a huge impact on blue-chip businesses.

CIOs must understand the security posture of all potential partners as a matter of urgency. Gartner noted that major enterprises have been affected by attacks and breaches against their partners and by providers that work with their third-party vendors. This interconnectedness can create a ripple effect that could put major enterprises at risk.

Assessing the Security Posture of Partners

As more enterprises store data in the cloud, CIOs must be sure to understand the security posture of interconnected providers. According to Wheatman, Gartner has seen an increase in spending on security rating services. These services gather data and then run algorithms to assess enterprise cybersecurity, much like a credit rating is applied to a consumer. Investing in these services allows security leaders to understand the risk associated to partners operating within their extended ecosystems.

Making Smart Investments

The good news is that Gartner recently forecast that global security spending will total $96.3 billion next year, an 8 percent increase from 2017. Enterprises are spending more due to regulation concerns, emerging threats and evolution in digital business strategies.

IT decision-makers must clearly explain the risk of cybersecurity threats to senior stakeholders. They need to demonstrate how investing in information security reduces risk, improves governance and creates higher profits — and underscore that these practices need to be present in third parties as well.

More from

New Attack Targets Online Customer Service Channels

An unknown attacker group is targeting customer service agents at gambling and gaming companies with a new malware effort. Known as IceBreaker, the code is capable of stealing passwords and cookies, exfiltrating files, taking screenshots and running custom VBS scripts. While these are fairly standard functions, what sets IceBreaker apart is its infection vector. Malicious actors are leveraging the helpful nature of customer service agents to deliver their payload and drive the infection process. Here’s a look at how IceBreaker…

Operational Technology: The evolving threats that might shift regulatory policy

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite audio content. Attacks on Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) grabbed the headlines more often in 2022 — a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparking a growing willingness on behalf of criminals to target the ICS of critical infrastructure. Conversations about what could happen if these kinds of systems were compromised were once relegated to “what ifs” and disaster movie scripts. But those days are…

Cybersecurity 101: What is Attack Surface Management?

There were over 4,100 publicly disclosed data breaches in 2022, exposing about 22 billion records. Criminals can use stolen data for identity theft, financial fraud or to launch ransomware attacks. While these threats loom large on the horizon, attack surface management (ASM) seeks to combat them. ASM is a cybersecurity approach that continuously monitors an organization’s IT infrastructure to identify and remediate potential points of attack. Here’s how it can give your organization an edge. Understanding Attack Surface Management Here…

Six Ways to Secure Your Organization on a Smaller Budget

My LinkedIn feed has been filled with connections announcing they have been laid off and are looking for work. While it seems that no industry has been spared from uncertainty, my feed suggests tech has been hit the hardest. Headlines confirm my anecdotal experience. Many companies must now protect their systems from more sophisticated threats with fewer resources — both human and technical. Cobalt’s 2022 The State of Pentesting Report found that 90% of short-staffed teams are struggling to monitor…