97% of U.S. CIOs identify cybersecurity as a current major threat to their organization

EDISON, N.J. -- According to new research released by Opengear, a Digi International company and provider of secure and Smart Out of Band management solutions, a staggering 97% of U.S.-based CIOs surveyed expressed serious concerns about at least one cybersecurity threat.

This comprehensive survey encompassed responses from 502 CIOs and 510 network engineers in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Australia. The primary cybersecurity concerns highlighted in the research included malware (42%), spam and phishing (34%), social engineering (31%), and insider threats (30%). Remarkably, malware also emerged as a significant threat for 42% of the surveyed network engineers.

While only 23% of U.S. CIOs reported distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks as a threat, 38% of network engineers reported a higher level of concern for this specific type of attack, most likely due to their close proximity to the network. To add to these concerns, U.S. engineers said that insufficient investments are enhancing the risk of cyberattacks and/or downtime (59%). This suggests that lack of budget spent on software upgrades and network upgrades, for example, leaves organizations more vulnerable to attack and has the potential to affect business continuity, which is a high priority for 97% of CIOs in the U.S. and 88% of CIOs globally.

“The skills shortage and insufficient investment in networks are two factors that have combined to encourage cybercriminals to breach businesses,” said Gary Marks, President at Opengear. “Smart Out of Band solutions enable organizations to manage their networks at all times from local and remote sites, even during an outage. Network engineers can make smarter, real-time decisions to achieve consistent network resilience and unparalleled visibility, with security and encryption features ensuring that management policies remain continually enforced.”

Continued technology investment is essential to enable engineers to safeguard networks during cyberattacks. The latest research further highlights a concerning trend, indicating that 27% of U.S. network engineers are actively contemplating leaving their current roles due to inadequate funding — an alarming contrast to the global average of 21%.