Cyber security spending is not being used to its full potential, study finds

A third of businesses believe security tools are not being used to their full potential, according to a poll conducted by cyber security specialist Integrity360.

Though 30% of respondents said up to a third of their budget is allocated to tools that they are failing to use in full, another third of those who replied also said they have more than 30 tools within their stack that could be removed due to overlapping and unused features.

“Whilst businesses recognise the need to allocate more budget towards cyber security, the difficulty lies in knowing where to apportion the spend,” says Richard Ford, CTO at Integrity360.

“It’s easy to throw money at all the shiny new tech and solutions on the market, but this results in disparate systems, with too many tools deployed for specific purposes, that ultimately go unmanaged and underutilised.”

Just this week, Euler Finance became the latest victim of a cyber-attack, losing $200 million, despite citing to have partnered with six “top security firms” on its website.

According to Ford, businesses should invest in their cyber security with a clearer intention on what solutions are needed, in order to avoid an overabundance of solutions with features that overlap or aren’t required.

Otherwise, it “is an accident waiting to happen, and a drain on budget and efficiency”, Ford added.

With the current economic climate, and 46% of businesses agreeing that the financial loss is the biggest issue when it comes to an attack, the advice is not to spend more, but to be better informed.

“Consolidation of platforms and convergence of technologies can be a useful way to optimise spending in addition to improving overall security postures,” Ford concluded.