Report: Cloud automation is key to future-proofing cybersecurity

As hybrid work becomes the new normal, businesses recognize that people aren’t going back to the office full-time anytime soon. IT environments are changing, with continued migration from on-premise systems to hybrid or multicloud environments. The complexities of diverse environments challenge IT teams to implement and manage consistent security policies. In fact, many businesses spent the past two years attempting to achieve or maintain stability in a storm of uncertainty and rapid change. But what about the future? As enterprises look towards the horizon, there is a need to shift focus from merely surviving to thriving. This is according to the latest survey by Delinea that explores how enterprises address the challenges of future-proofing.

Delinea’s research explores the important, yet sometimes misunderstood and undervalued topic of future-proofing. It reveals the challenges faced as a security industry and points towards a balanced path of expertise and automation to guide our work.

The report finds that cloud automation is seen as the key to future-proofing cybersecurity, especially when coupled with autonomous privileges and access. The good news? Eighty-six percent of respondents are exploring ways to automate access controls, especially for privileged access. But even with 68% of respondents seeing increases in budgets and staff, they continue to face mounting threats from an expanding threatscape that’s challenging to address. Fifty-nine percent of respondents indicate that the leading factor driving their need to future-proof their access security in 2022 is increasingly complex, multicloud IT environments. 

But the research points to a conundrum: overconfidence in security preparedness could lead to a security disaster. The survey found that future-proofing becomes even more important when organizations become overly confident in their security measures. Despite the challenges ahead and knowing automation will be critical to their future success, 83% of respondents are confident with their current access controls even as two out of three companies admit to being victims of cyberattacks.

As cloud migration accelerates, the pressure to manage critical systems in an increasingly complex, dispersed and vulnerable IT environment will continue to rise. Hybrid solutions will become mandatory. As the volume of activity and risk scenarios increase, we’re likely to rely more heavily on machine learning and autonomous security controls that require no human intervention at all. That will hold true for on-premise and cloud scenarios.

It’s the most informed, most forward-thinking leaders who will select the most effective security investments to set their organizations up for future success. The better you prepare for the long term, the more agile and resilient you’ll be in a time of rapid change.

The report analyzed responses of more than 300 IT business decision-makers through a survey conducted in February 2022 by Census-wide, a global research company.

Read the full report by Delinea.