State of Cyber Assets Report Still Finds Vulnerabilities

A new report (The 2022 State of Cyber Assets Report 2022 SCAR) showcases findings from analyzing more than 370 million assets at 1300 organizations. A vast majority of challenges will come from cloud assets, a worrying trend as more companies move entirely to the cloud.

The ever-expanding attack surface is the result of digital transformation initiatives. While many enterprises have needed this change, it does bring new challenges to the IT department. The survey found that traditional approaches don’t provide enough security for this level of an asset, underscoring how critical it is for security-first approaches as digital and cloud transformation continue.

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The cloud is vast, and security teams are overwhelmed

Cloud solutions have become the primary mode of operation for companies of all sizes, leaving security teams scrambling to put out fires and maintain observability. According to the survey, 90 percent of all company assets exist in the cloud, creating a massive repository—around 165,000 assets on average—for teams to manage.

Skills gaps and a competitive hiring climate compound these challenges. Organizations must find innovative ways to support existing cybersecurity teams without relying on hiring new team members. Tools that ensure teams become more efficient will offer the most significant impact.

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Relationships between assets could also provide key data to prevent attacks

Existing cybersecurity models don’t pay much attention to the relationships between users, devices, and networks. An under-resourced cybersecurity team is less able to identify relationships between these components and potential vulnerabilities. However, cloud-native security tools could provide the type of support teams need to stay on top of security threats, respond faster, and monitor more efficiently.