Survey: Identity at the center of securing IT networks
14 July, 2015
category: Corporate, Digital ID, Financial, Government
More than half of U.S. businesses have suffered some sort of breach and these hacks can cost millions of dollars in damages, according to survey results from Centrify Corp. At the center of protecting IT resources is identity, according to findings from Centrify’s “State of the Corporate Perimeter” survey of more than 400 US and UK IT decision makers.
While major breaches like Sony and the Office of Personnel Management make headlines, Centrify wanted to look at the cause and effect of breaches on organizations that do not make the front page. Results showed not only that corporations are vulnerable to attack, but that identity is at the center of protecting data.
It’s an uphill battle for IT executives, however. Respondents say they have to fight with executives for stricter security — 48% U.S. and 30% UK – and have had leadership turn them down for stricter protocols — 42% U.S. and 27% UK.
Survey data reveals millions of dollars in identity-related damages:
- 55% of U.S. respondents and 45%of UK counterparts say their organizations have suffered a security breach in the past
- Those breaches cost the companies involved millions of dollars in damages
- Three quarters of U.S. executives and more than half of UK executives agree their organizations need to do a better job of monitoring who has access to their data
- The question of who has access to data—including when and for how long—is also cause for considerable alarm
- 59% of U.S. respondents and 34% of UK respondents report sharing access credentials with other employees at least somewhat often
- Another 52%of U.S. respondents and 32%of UK respondents share access at least somewhat often with contractors. Shared credentials can provide entry to privileged accounts, and if they fall into the hands of hackers they receive elevated access to all of an enterprise’s critical data, applications, systems and network devices
- Among IT executives who grant access to contractors, 82% in the U.S. and 68% in the UK say it would be at least somewhat easy for those contractors to gain access to their company’s digital assets
- 53% of U.S. respondents and 32% of UK respondents say it would be at least somewhat easy for a former employee to still log in and access data
The full Centrify report can be downloaded here.