Cyber Defense Report Analyst Paper

Summary:

This text appears to be a summary of a cybersecurity report conducted by CyberEdge Group, focusing on IT security practices and perceptions globally. It includes details about the methodology used for the survey, the services offered by CyberEdge Group, and guidelines for using content from their reports. The main focus seems to be on providing an overview of how organizations are managing external connections in a secure manner through various features such as multi-layer authentication, authorization, auditing, threat protection, data leakage protection, and encryption. ### Key Points: 1. **Security Features**: The article highlights essential security features for managing external connections, including multi-layer authentication, authorization, auditing, threat protection (e.g., threat management), data leakage prevention, and data encryption to safeguard information in transit and at rest. 2. **API Gateway**: An API gateway serves as a critical infrastructure component for handling external connections securely, providing various capabilities like language transformation between XML/JSON and SOAP/REST, request/response validation, session persistence, caching, load balancing, and monitoring usage rates. 3. **DevSecOps Transition**: The article discusses the challenges of transitioning to DevSecOps due to organizational realignment issues. Suggestions include starting with low-hanging fruit investments in application security testing (combining static and dynamic types) and open source vulnerability management tools to reduce the attack surface by addressing security defects in custom-developed code. 4. **Cyberthreat Defense Report**: The article mentions a forthcoming CDR (Cyberthreat Defense Report) sixth annual edition based on survey results from 1,200 participants across 17 countries. This report provides insights into current IT security practices and perceptions globally. 5. **Survey Methodology**: The research for the 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report was conducted among IT security professionals from organizations with at least 500 employees, with a strong representation from sectors like education, finance, government, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and telecom & technology. 6. **Usage of Content**: Guidelines are provided for using content from the report, emphasizing that internal use is prohibited and external parties must cite the source in their works. ### Recommendations: - Organizations transitioning to DevSecOps should consider starting with low-hanging fruit investments in application security testing to enhance security measures and reduce vulnerabilities in custom-developed code. - When integrating content from this report or any other, ensure proper citation as outlined by CyberEdge Group to avoid implied endorsements and maintain the integrity of the information provided.

Details:

The "2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report" is a comprehensive study that analyzes the current security posture, perceptions, concerns, practices, and future strategies related to cybersecurity across various regions globally. It covers North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. This report is presented in an organized manner with a table of contents that includes sections such as "Introduction," "Research Highlights," "Current Security Posture," "Perceptions and Concerns," "Current and Future Practices," "Investments Strategies Road Ahead," "Demographics Methodology Group." The research highlights the frequency of successful cyberattacks in the past, the likelihood of future successful attacks, and evaluates IT security functions and capabilities across different domains. The report also addresses the issue of the IT security skills shortage by examining current perceptions on cybersecurity practices and concerns. This comprehensive overview helps stakeholders understand the evolving threats to digital security and how organizations are adapting their strategies to meet these challenges. The provided text seems to be a structured outline with titles that suggest various topics related to cybersecurity. Here's the summary of each section based on the titles provided: 1. **Types of Cyberthreats**: This section likely discusses different types of cyber threats, which could include malware, phishing attacks, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, ransomware, and more. 2. **Responding to Ransomware**: This section would detail strategies for dealing with ransomware incidents, such as how to mitigate the impact, negotiate with attackers, or recover data after a successful attack. 3. **Barriers to Establishing Effective Defenses**: In this part, potential obstacles to implementing strong cybersecurity measures are outlined, including technical, organizational, and financial challenges. 4. **Cloud Security Challenges**: This section focuses on the specific issues related to securing cloud-based services, such as data privacy, compliance with regulatory standards, and managing access controls. 5. **Vulnerability Patching Challenges**: Here, difficulties in identifying and patching software vulnerabilities are discussed, including outdated systems or lack of resources for regular updates. 6. **Section 3: Current and Future Investments**: This part discusses the current allocation of IT security budgets as well as potential changes in these budgets to adapt with new technologies or threats. 7. **IT Security Budget Allocation**: An overview of how organizations allocate their budget towards cybersecurity measures, which could include personnel costs for security experts, software licenses, and hardware upgrades. 8. **IT Security Budget Change**: This section would explore potential shifts in the IT security budget as companies adapt to new threats or changes in technology landscape. 9. **Network Security Deployment Status**: A report on the current deployment of network-level security measures, such as firewalls and VPNs, within organizations. 10. **Endpoint Security Deployment Status**: Details about how effectively endpoint protection tools are being used across different platforms like PCs, servers, or mobile devices. 11. **Mobile Security Deployment Status**: An analysis of the implementation of mobile security solutions for protecting data on smartphones and tablets. 12. **Application and Data Security Deployment Status**: The effectiveness and progress in securing applications and ensuring that sensitive information is protected from unauthorized access or breaches. These summaries assume a logical progression where each section builds upon the previous one, discussing specific aspects of cybersecurity management. The "2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report" is a comprehensive study that explores the current perceptions, practices, and strategies related to cyber threat detection and prevention in various organizations. Here's a summary of its key sections and contents: **Introduction:** The report begins with an overview of cybersecurity trends and challenges faced by businesses globally. It highlights the increasing sophistication and frequency of cyber threats and how they impact security posture. **Security Posture and Current Perceptions:** This section discusses the current state of cybersecurity in various organizations, including perceptions about the effectiveness of existing defenses, types of attacks experienced, preferred detection methods, and perceived likelihood of successful attacks. **Section 1: Understanding Cyber Threats:**

• This section delves into the different types of cyber threats, their typical entry points, and how they are evolving over time. It also analyzes the economic impact of cyber threats on businesses.

**Section 2: Assessing Your Security Posture:**

• The report provides a framework for assessing an organization's security posture, including key indicators to evaluate the level of risk posed by cyber threats.

**Section 3: Cyberthreat Detection vs. Prevention Investments:**

• This section analyzes investment patterns in cybersecurity tools and services between organizations with high and low levels of detected threats. It suggests that more should be invested in prevention strategies rather than just detection.

**Section 4: Practices and Strategies:** This is the core part of the report where various security practices are discussed:

• **Cloud Deployment Practices for Security**: Explores how companies deploy cloud services securely.

• **SSL/TLS Decryption Practices**: Discusses techniques to decrypt SSL/TLS traffic for threat detection.

• **Threat Intelligence Practices**: Covers the use of threat intelligence in identifying and responding to cyber threats.

• **User and Entity Behavior Analytics Practices**: Examines methods to analyze user behavior patterns that might indicate a breach or suspicious activity.

• **Cloud Access Security Broker Practices**: Focuses on securing access to cloud resources through specialized brokers.

• **Use of Managed Security Services Providers**: Explores the role of third-party providers in managing and enhancing security measures.

**The Road Ahead:**

• The report projects future trends in cyber threat detection, including emerging technologies that might shape future defense strategies.

**Appendix 1: Survey Demographics:**

• Provides demographic information about the respondents who participated in the survey included in the report.

**Appendix 2: Research Methodology:**

• Details the methodology used to conduct the research, including data collection and analysis techniques.

**Appendix 3: About CyberEdge Group:**

• Offers background on the organization that conducted the study.

Overall, this report serves as a valuable resource for businesses looking to enhance their cybersecurity posture in an increasingly digital world where cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and prevalent. The CyberEdge group has created a survey to understand how IT security vendors and decision makers perceive cyber threats globally. This research is done through surveys sent to 1,200 qualified IT professionals from organizations with over 500 employees in 17 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. The survey covers various industries like finance, healthcare, education, retail, and more. Key findings include:

• Mobile security remains a top concern for many organizations.

• There's an increased demand for technology that can detect new types of threats not caught by traditional methods.

• Organizations still underinvest in employee training to protect against cyberthreats.

• The use of cloud services and application containers is on the rise, which might affect how companies manage cybersecurity risks.

This annual report has now reached its fifth year and is recognized as a unique resource for IT security leaders by providing insights into their practices and investments compared to global peers. The provided text appears to be part of a larger document, likely a report or study on cybersecurity trends and perceptions from 2014 to 2018 as it references "the 2014 and 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Reports." Here's a summary of the key points mentioned in the text: 1. **Trends in Cybersecurity**: The report highlights several trends in cybersecurity from 2014 to 2018, including increased risk due to malware, spear phishing, and ransomware; changes in optimism about successful cyberattacks over time; and shifts in perceived impacts of these threats. 2. **Weakest Links**: IT security weaknesses were found primarily in mobile devices, laptops/notebooks, social media usage, cloud infrastructure, low security awareness among employees, and lack of skilled IT personnel. 3. **Most Common Threats**: Malware and spear phishing are consistently identified as the most concerning cyber threats over the period studied. 4. **Technological Responses**: The hottest network security technology planned for acquisition was next-generation firewalls (NGFW) with advanced malware analysis, while endpoint security focused on micro-virtualization and containerization to enhance protection against emerging threats. 5. **Employee Impact**: Organizations are still vulnerable despite some improvements; 77% of organizations were victimized by successful cyberattacks in 2018, indicating a continued challenge for IT security professionals. 6. **Budget Changes**: There was no change in the IT security budget but an increase of 5-9% is anticipated for future budgets according to the report. 7. **Survey Findings**: The survey conducted as part of the CyberEdge Group's research provides insights into how security professionals view and plan to address cybersecurity threats, indicating a mixed outlook with some pessimism about preventing future attacks despite improvements seen over time. This summary captures the essence of the trends and findings from the referenced report regarding cybersecurity challenges and technological responses during the specified timeframe. The article discusses several issues related to cybersecurity and IT challenges faced by organizations. Key points include: 1. The frequency of successful attacks has decreased, but the complexity of defending against them remains high. Factors such as the adequacy of security postures, internal practices, organizational barriers, planned investments in technology, and budget allocations are crucial for effective defense. 2. A coin flip metaphor is used to describe a hypothetical approach to dealing with ransomware: organizations would flip a coin once to determine if they will be affected by ransomware; if so, they would flip the coin again to decide whether paying the ransom might retrieve their data. This highlights the uncertainty and risk associated with such attacks and the need for strategic decision-making in cybersecurity. 3. Application containers (like Docker) pose significant challenges for security practitioners due to their complexity. DevSecOps is identified as the most challenging IT security function, followed by container security, suggesting a growing need for integrated development, operations, and security practices. 4. Cloud security remains a top concern with over 90% of security professionals acknowledging challenges in maintaining data privacy, controlling access, and monitoring for threats. This indicates that while cloud adoption is widespread, managing associated risks requires significant attention. 5. A persistent challenge identified across multiple years is the shortage of skilled IT security personnel. The term "low-hanging fruit" is used to describe situations where organizations may be more susceptible due to a lack of adequately trained staff. Overall, these points underscore the dynamic and multifaceted nature of cybersecurity today, requiring continuous evaluation, strategic planning, and responsive action across various fronts including technology, organizational practices, and personnel development. This report, titled "2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report," is a comprehensive study by CDR (CyberEdge Research), which surveys perceptions of IT security decision makers and practitioners globally. The objective of this research is to provide actionable insights for developers of IT security technologies and services, helping them align their solutions with the concerns and requirements of potential customers. The report highlights several key aspects: 1. **Security Posture and Concerns**: It reveals how organizations perceive and address cyberthreats by evaluating current security practices and future strategies, as well as investments in IT security measures. This includes an analysis of technologies currently in use and those planned for implementation over the coming year. 2. **Geographical Scope**: The CDR is the most geographically comprehensive vendor-agnostic study of its kind, providing a broad view of how IT security practitioners worldwide perceive and deal with cyberthreats. 3. **Comparative Analysis**: It compares the level of spending on IT security across different organizations, assessing whether their approach to cybersecurity is effective in addressing traditional concerns as well as emerging threats. 4. **Practices and Strategies for Cybersecurity**: The report discusses how to effectively mitigate current cyberthreat risks, emphasizing not only investing in the right technologies but also ensuring that these are implemented correctly to provide adequate protection. The CDR aims to empower solution providers by giving them actionable information about market trends, customer concerns, and effective cybersecurity practices, thereby enhancing their market traction and success. This summary is about a CDR (Cybersecurity Defense Report) which evaluates how well an organization's cybersecurity defenses are performing against potential threats. The report has four main sections: 1. Current Security Posture: It assesses what kind of security technologies and strategies, like cloud vs on-premises deployment or using MSSPs for monitoring, the organization currently uses to protect itself from cyber threats. 2. Perceptions and Concerns: This part looks at how people in an organization perceive their current level of protection against potential cyber attacks and identifies what worries them most about security. 3. Navigating The Report: To find specific information on this report, you can look at its Table of Contents for direct answers to your questions or jump to the Research Highlights section that summarizes key findings from the whole report. 4. Section Breakdown: Further details are available by clicking through each item in the Table of Contents which leads to pages with survey questions related to specific aspects of cybersecurity defense, like inspecting SSL traffic or using third-party threat intelligence. The article discusses the 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report, which provides insights into current security practices and perceptions of threat landscapes across various organizations. Key highlights include improved network security measures like advanced malware analysis/sandboxing and containerization, with these technologies being prioritized for acquisition in 2018. Additionally, there has been a decrease in the percentage of organizations affected by successful cyberattacks for the first time in five years. The report also includes navigation tabs at the top of each page to facilitate easy access to different sections. Organizations are encouraged to continually adapt and improve their cyberthreat defenses as part of proactive security measures. This summary is about various aspects of IT security in 2018 as indicated by the page numbers. Here's what it highlights: 1. **Micro-Virtualization and Containers**: Both are highly ranked for endpoint and mobile security, with containers being considered the weakest link in IT security (pages 8, 9). 2. **API Gateways**: There is a high demand for API gateways, which are crucial in application development and testing, listed as the most wanted technology for enhancing app and data security (page 30). 3. **Application Development and Testing**: Organizations face challenges with securing applications during development and testing due to the inherent vulnerabilities that arise from this process (page 10). 4. **Cyberthreat Hunting**: Less than a third of respondents are confident in their organization's investment for cyberthreat hunting solutions, suggesting it may not be effectively addressing threats (page 11). 5. **Cybersecurity Skills Shortage**: There is still a significant global shortage of skilled IT security professionals, affecting almost all organizations (page 12). 6. **Cloud vs. On-Premises Deployments**: IT security organizations prefer flexibility in deploying technologies either in the cloud, on premises, or both to adapt effectively and efficiently (pages 31, 32). 7. **SSL Decryption**: Leveraging built-in decryption features of applications along with standalone appliances is crucial for mitigating risks associated with encrypted threats (page 33). 8. **Ransomware Prevention**: Although dealing with malware, ransomware, and phishing are significant concerns, they are not the only headaches for IT security; decrypting SSL and integrating threat intelligence are also highlighted as critical issues (pages 13, 33-34). 9. **Flipping the Ransomware Coin**: The idea of flipping a coin to determine if an organization will be hit by ransomware is mentioned, suggesting that prevention strategies alone may not fully protect organizations from such threats (page 34). These points provide a snapshot of where IT security priorities lay in terms of technologies, practices, and concerns during the year under review. The passage discusses various aspects of IT security including user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), cloud access security brokers (CASBs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), and the frequency of successful cyberattacks within organizations. It highlights that for the first time in five years, lack of skilled personnel trumps low security awareness among employees as a major inhibitor to IT security success. The passage also mentions that nine out of ten organizations are experiencing cloud security challenges and turning to CASBs to address these issues. Additionally, more than four in five organizations face vulnerability patching challenges, which is explained by leveraging MSSPs for offloading certain IT security functions. Lastly, the text provides data on the average percentage (12%) of the overall IT budget that is consumed by IT security, as well as a breakdown of how frequently organizations have been compromised by successful cyberattacks in the past year. This article discusses a study conducted by CDR (Cyberthreat Defense Report) in which they analyzed data from organizations across various countries to determine their vulnerability to cyber attacks. The research revealed that Singaporean organizations performed exceptionally well, being least likely to experience more than ten successful cyberattacks and not being hit at all 35.6% of the time. Comparatively, Mexico had a higher percentage (93.9%) of organizations affected by cyberattacks compared to China (91.8%). The report also noted that larger organizations (>10,000 employees) were more likely to be hit six times or more at twice the rate of smaller companies. This data suggests a slight decrease in the number of organizations being impacted by successful cyber attacks from 79.2% in 2016 to 77.2% in 2017, which may indicate some progress in IT security practices and improvements in threat prevention measures. The findings are based on the CDR's five-year history of the Cyberthreat Defense Report and aim to provide insights into current cyber threats and the effectiveness of defense strategies. In a survey of IT security professionals conducted by the organization in 2018, it was found that only 62% believed their organization would be more likely to be compromised by a successful cyberattack within the next year. This represents a shift from previous years where optimism was higher, with 62% in 2014 believing an attack was unlikely. The results indicate a change in perception among IT security professionals towards increased risk of cyberattacks. Geographically, respondents from China (92%), Japan (76%), and Turkey (74%) were considered to be more pessimistic about potential breaches, fitting the term "realist camp" as they tend to focus on potentially negative outcomes. In contrast, telecom & technology companies (66.8%), retail (65.9%), and manufacturing (65.4%) had the most pessimistic outlook among their professionals. Moreover, the report highlights that 77.2% of respondents indicated that their organization was successfully breached in the previous year, which contradicts the current level of optimism about future breaches but does not necessarily lead to a higher fear amongst those who are already familiar with such risks. The survey conducted on cybersecurity perceptions among organizations indicated that their security posture was rated between 1 to 5 (with 5 being the highest) across various IT components. Notably, respondents expressed relatively high confidence in defending against cyber threats for physical and virtual servers but identified application containers and mobile devices as the greatest challenges. This finding suggests a shift from traditional AV technologies towards more modern solutions like containers and cloud infrastructure services for improved security management. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights a significant trend where weighted scores for all IT domains increased over two years but declined this time around, with the "network perimeter / DMZ" dropping from third to seventh position on average by more than 0.12 points. This reversal might be attributed to a relative lack of attention and investment in cyber defense, leading to growing recognition of the need to match the sophistication of modern cyberattacks. The report suggests that organizations should focus not only on technological countermeasures but also on improving their people and processes for effective cyberthreat defenses, as they are beginning to understand that past methods are becoming outdated against today's threat actors. The passage discusses a report on IT security capabilities in various organizations, highlighting areas such as detection of advanced threats and insider attacks, which are considered significant challenges for most organizations. It also notes that investment in cyberthreat hunting solutions is seen as adequate by only around one-third of respondents (38%), suggesting room for improvement in detecting threats missed by automated defenses. Additionally, the passage suggests that improving security awareness among employees could be a crucial step to enhance overall cyberthreat defense capabilities. In the provided text, it is discussed that there is a need to establish a formal cyberthreat hunting program in order to better utilize available threat intelligence sources and enhance security defenses against missed threats. The authors suggest that if organizations were satisfied with detection times of over 200 days (indicating significant time for threats to go undetected), this would be an indicator of complacency rather than proactive measures being taken. Instead, the authors propose that more investment is needed in developing methods and processes for fully utilizing existing investments in technological countermeasures against cyberthreats. This includes not only investing in tools but also maturing related processes and techniques or hiring personnel with specialized threat hunting experience to improve detection capabilities. The results of a survey indicated that while nearly 82% generally agree about the adequacy of their organization's investment in this area, only one third (32%) are confident, and smaller organizations (<5,000 employees) underperform larger ones by 11%. The article discusses a survey conducted by CyberEdge Group in collaboration with ISC² regarding cybersecurity skills shortage among various industries including education and government. According to the research, eight out of ten organizations reported being impacted by the security talent shortfall, indicating that only half as many are experiencing this challenge compared to last year's study where almost nine out of ten did so. The most affected industry was education (87.1%), followed closely by retail (73.3%) and healthcare (75.0%). At the opposite end, government organizations showed less impact with only 79.7% indicating a shortage. These findings suggest that while there has been some improvement in addressing the skills gap within these sectors, more needs to be done to bridge the gap compared to other major industries like finance and telecom & technology which were not mentioned but are considered benchmarks for this comparison. The cybersecurity skills shortage affects organizations similarly in terms of both overall impact and specific roles within companies, with security analysts (27.9%) and security architects (27.6%) being closely tied as the most challenging positions to fill. This issue is particularly acute in Asia, where Japan (53.1%), China (46.0%), and Singapore (41.7%) are struggling to meet their needs for IT security architects/engineers. Conversely, countries such as Australia (64.6%), Germany (68.1%), and Brazil (76.5%) experience less impact from this shortage, while Japan, Spain, and Mexico have the highest concerns with a 98.0%, 92.0%, and 90.9% prevalence of IT security architects/engineers being hard to fill respectively. Malware remains one of the top-two cyberthreats consistently ranked by professionals, alongside phishing/spear phishing, while malware specifically is still highly concerning in its impact on organizations, as reported across various studies including this year's CyberEdge Research 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report. A positive trend observed from this year's report is a decline in overall concern for cyber threats, as indicated by the creation of a Threat Concern Index (TCI), which averages all ratings of each type of threat over several years. This index has shown fluctuations since its inception but reached an all-time low this year with a score of 3.66, the lowest since at least three years ago. This decline is noteworthy as it follows the first drop in successful cyberattacks among respondents and could suggest that overall concerns about cybersecurity are reducing. The most notable changes include the significant rise of ransomware from fifth to second place and a sharp fall for insider threats, moving from third to tenth position on the list. The report also highlights that none of the 11 types of cyberthreats analyzed showed an increase in concern this year compared to last year's results. These findings are part of the 2018 Cyber Threat Defense Report and emphasize the importance of understanding current cybersecurity perceptions and concerns, which could influence future strategies and investments aimed at enhancing IT security defenses against emerging threats. The article discusses the findings of the 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report, which highlights that despite an increasing number of ransomware attacks in 2017, only a small portion of victims actually paid the ransom. This is evidenced by the fact that 86.9% of those affected refused to pay and recovered their data through offline backups, while half of those who did pay got their data back (49.4%). The article also mentions the notorious WannaCry ransomware attack in May 2017, which infected over 300,000 computers worldwide, causing damage estimated to be anywhere from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. This highlights the challenges organizations face when dealing with ransomware and emphasizes the importance of proper security measures and data backup strategies. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights a significant issue faced by many organizations worldwide - being victimized by ransomware in 2017. A total of 55% of the surveyed organizations were affected, with varying outcomes based on whether they paid the ransom or not. Among those that paid the ransom, only about 49.4% managed to recover their data back, while a substantial portion (50.6%) lost their data altogether without recovering it. This emphasizes the importance of maintaining up-to-date offline backups and adopting robust, enterprise-class, cloud-based backup solutions for effective cyber threat defense. Key findings include that China and Mexico were among the top countries affected by ransomware with rates at 74.0% and 71.9%, respectively, followed closely by Spain at 80%. The most frequent industries impacted are education (60.3%), telecom & technology (59.9%), manufacturing (59.7%), retail (50.6%), finance (50.4%), government (50.0%), and healthcare (44.0%). Mid-size enterprises with 5,000 to 9,999 employees were most affected by ransomware at 63.4%, while smaller organizations with 500 to 999 employees faced the least impact at 49.3%. The "2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report" is a comprehensive study that analyzes the current perceptions and practices related to cybersecurity threats and defenses. It outlines key findings from a survey conducted with 1,194 respondents across various industries, aiming to understand the main challenges faced by organizations in protecting themselves against cyber threats. One of the most significant concerns highlighted in the report is the lack of skilled personnel or "lack of skilled personnel" as one of the top inhibitors for establishing effective defenses (Figure 14). This finding suggests a persistent struggle in acquiring and retaining highly qualified cybersecurity professionals, which has been an ongoing issue since 2013 when the question was first posed. The report also highlights other inhibiting factors such as "lack of budget," followed by "low security awareness among employees." Surprisingly, these concerns have persisted over time without showing significant improvement, with "low security awareness among employees" remaining a top concern for security professionals in three consecutive years (2014-2016) and continuing to be a major issue until 2018. Another noteworthy observation is the rise of another inhibitor: "Too many false positives." This indicates that organizations are dealing with an overload of alerts that turn out to be benign, which not only consumes resources but also can lead to complacency among security teams due to what appears to be excessive caution. The provided text discusses a survey regarding cybersecurity concerns in 2018 as part of the CyberEdge Group's Cyberthreat Defense Report. It introduces a new chart called the "Security Concern Index," which averages the ratings of various security inhibitors over time to measure the general concern among IT professionals for barriers in their work. The study reveals that while some issues have seen slight improvements, such as the decline in budget-related concerns from second place in 2014 to seventh in 2018, others like lack of skilled personnel and effective market solutions continue to be significant challenges, with the latter notably improving its position by five spots. The report emphasizes that these findings are not an indication of improved cybersecurity but rather a call for better training and investment in IT security measures. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlighted a significant increase in cloud security concerns, as acknowledged by 91% of respondents who identified at least one such concern. This suggests that cloud-related risks are posing a clear and present danger to organizations globally. Specifically, maintaining data privacy and confidentiality (44.4%) topped the list of cloud security challenges, followed by controlling access (40.5%), monitoring for threats (36.7%), assessing risks (30.0%), and maintaining regulatory compliance (28.0%). The concerns were relatively uniform across geographical regions except for respondents from Colombia and Mexico, who expressed the most concerns, while those from Turkey, Germany, and Australia reported fewer concerns. Industry-wise, finance and telecom sectors showed the highest levels of concern, whereas technology and telecom firms had comparatively lower concerns. The article discusses findings from a CyberEdge research report titled "2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report," which examines current perceptions and concerns related to cybersecurity vulnerabilities in organizations. Key highlights include the discovery that 83.4% of respondents reported experiencing multiple challenges when it comes to patching systems rapidly, with infrequent windows for taking production systems offline for patching being a major factor (34.5%). Other significant factors contributing to these challenges are lack of qualified personnel (33.8%) and ineffective patch management platforms (32.5%). This situation presents both security concerns and opportunities for vendors specializing in Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs), as it highlights the need for improved cybersecurity practices across various organizations, particularly given that federal, state, and local governments are among those least likely to embrace cloud services. This summary highlights the findings of a survey conducted by CDR in collaboration with CyberEdge, which aimed to understand the challenges faced by organizations when it comes to patching systems for vulnerabilities. The research revealed that despite being an issue affecting many enterprises over three years, there is no significant improvement in addressing this problem quickly. The study showed that about 83.4% of organizations are facing issues with patch management. There's also a disparity among regions where some countries like France, China, and Japan have more effective vulnerability patching practices compared to others such as Australia, Germany, and Brazil. Additionally, there is no significant difference in the difficulties faced by companies regardless of their size or industry type. This information suggests that vendors in both the patching and vulnerability management industries should take note and strive for innovation to meet customer demands, especially since enterprises are increasingly seeking better solutions despite facing similar challenges across various sectors. This report examines the allocation of IT budgets towards information security across various sectors and geopolitical regions, as well as over time within organizations. For the first time, it is noted that globally, on average, 12.1% of an organization's IT budget is dedicated to cybersecurity measures such as products, services, or personnel. This allocation varies significantly by country (Figure 18), industry (Figure 19), and organizational size (Figure 20). The report also highlights a slight decline in the proportion of organizations allocating 11% or more of their IT budget to information security over four years, from 58.4% in 2016 to 51.3% in 2018, as depicted in Figure 21. The CyberEdge Group's "2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report" reveals that organizations worldwide allocate an average of 12.1% of their IT budgets to cybersecurity, with the United States leading at 13.1%, and Mexico, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia allocating significantly more (15.6%, 14.9%, and 14.8% respectively). Japan, Singapore, and Germany are notable for having much lower allocations, with Japan at just 9.5%. The telecom & technology sector spends the most on cybersecurity (13.0%), followed by healthcare (12.4%). In contrast, manufacturing and government sectors spend relatively less, at 11.6% and 11.8%, respectively. In terms of organizational size, larger companies (>25,000 employees) allocate the most IT budget to cybersecurity (13.4%), while smaller ones (500-999 employees) allocate significantly less (11.1%). This trend is reflected across various industries. The overall mean increase in IT security budget for 2018 is +4.7% globally, indicating a slight rise from the previous year. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights a significant finding regarding global mean IT security budget changes for 2018. It is reported that the mean increase in IT security budgets globally stands at +4.7%. This data is presented across various groupings such as by country, industry, and organization size (employee count). The report also notes an encouraging trend where a larger proportion of organizations are allocating more than 11% of their overall IT budget to security, which has decreased for the first time in three years; however, this does not indicate a decline in investment. Instead, it is observed that there has been a record increase with 78.7% of organizations investing more in IT security compared to previous years. The report further breaks down these findings by industry and size of organization:

• By country (not specified), the mean security budget increase was calculated.

• Industry-wise, telecom & technology and education sectors showed the fastest growth in IT security budgets with increases of 5.5% and 4.9%, respectively, contrasted sharply with slower growth in government (4.0%) and finance sectors (4.3%).

• Organizational size is also a significant factor; larger organizations generally allocated more to IT security compared to smaller ones.

The findings suggest that while the overall percentage of the IT budget devoted to security has decreased slightly, there has been an upward shift in investment levels for many organizations, with telecom and education sectors leading this trend. The provided text discusses the increasing IT security spending in larger organizations, with a focus on North American and European markets. It highlights that despite the declining share of the IT security budget within overall IT budgets, this slice is getting larger due to an increase in spending for companies with more than 25,000 employees. The average growth rate for these larger organizations was 5.2% in 2018, compared to a global mean of 4.1%. Additionally, the text provides insights into current network security practices among various organizations worldwide, based on a survey conducted by CyberEdge Group. According to the report, most companies plan to deploy or have already deployed several types of network security technologies:

• Network-based anti-virus (68.3% currently in use or planned)

• Web application firewall (66.3%)

• Intrusion detection / prevention system (60.6%)

• Secure web gateway (59.9%)

• Secure email gateway (59.7%)

• Security information and event management (SIEM, 55.8%)

• Privileged account / access management (PAM, 55.4%)

• Denial of service (DoS/DdoS) prevention (55.3%)

• SSL/TLS decryption appliances / platform (55.0%)

These findings suggest that cybersecurity is a significant concern for organizations globally, and they are investing in various technologies to protect their network assets against cyber threats. This table provides a comparison of the adoption and planned acquisition status of various network security technologies among respondents. The data is presented as percentages indicating the proportion of users who indicated that each technology was either currently in use (dark blue cells), planned for acquisition (light blue cells), or had no plans to deploy it (gray cells). Among the top three most widely deployed network security technologies listed, network-based antivirus leads with 68.3% adoption, followed by web application firewall at 66.3%, and intrusion detection/prevention system at 60.6%. The table also highlights that some newer technologies such as threat intelligence service, advanced malware analysis/sandboxing, user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), and deception technology/distributed honeypots are being considered for deployment based on the percentages of users planning to acquire or use these technologies. The article discusses the increasing adoption of certain network security technologies in 2018, particularly web application firewall (WAF), deception technology/distributed honeypots, and threat intelligence services. While there were some decreases in adoption rates for dedicated sandboxing solutions, data loss prevention (DLP), secure email gateway, and secure web gateway vendors experienced significant drops. The article highlights that the planned acquisition of these technologies is expected to increase by 4.3% from the previous year, with particular attention paid to advanced malware analysis/sandboxing dropping from 66.9% in 2017 to 46.7% in 2018. The "CyberEdge Group's 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report" highlights the increasing adoption of network-based sandboxing and other advanced network security technologies, which have become integral components in defense-in-depth strategies. According to the report, the usage percentage of network-based sandboxing increased from 24.4% in 2017 to 40.8% in 2018, indicating a shift where it is now considered as part of other network security products rather than a standalone solution. The report suggests that this change has been driven by the prediction that these technologies will play a significant role in protecting against cyber threats effectively. The survey conducted for the report reveals the current practices and future investments in endpoint security among organizations. It shows that basic anti-virus/anti-malware, disk encryption, advanced anti-virus/anti-malware, data loss prevention (DLP), application control, self-remediation for infected endpoints, digital forensics/incident resolution, containerization/micro-virtualization, and deception technology/honeypot are the various technologies currently in use or planned for acquisition. These findings indicate a diverse approach to cybersecurity across different organizations, with most planning to either utilize or develop these security measures within their infrastructure. The report underscores the importance of continuous investment in robust network security solutions as part of an overall strategy to safeguard digital assets against cyber threats. It also acknowledges that there is significant room for expansion and improvement in the adoption rates of advanced cybersecurity technologies among organizations, presenting a strong business case for vendors providing such services to capitalize on this potential market opportunity. This passage is discussing the adoption status and planned acquisitions of various endpoint security technologies, focusing on containerization/micro-virtualization as a "hottest" technology and comparing its performance across years using percentages in different colors to indicate higher or lower frequencies of deployment and acquisition plans. The most commonly deployed technology among the options presented (including basic antivirus/anti-malware and disk encryption) has been around since 2014, with signature-based solutions leading the adoption charts once again. Containerization/micro-virtualization follows closely behind AV technologies in terms of planned acquisitions, showing a slight increase from last year's figure. Other notable mentions include self-defense and response (EDR) solutions as next in line for acquisition among various offerings such as disk encryption and advanced antivirus/anti-malware. The provided text discusses the trends and perceptions surrounding endpoint protection solutions, specifically focusing on the adoption rates of antivirus/anti-malware signatures versus more advanced technologies like EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform) and EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response). It highlights that while AV/antivirus has seen a decline in adoption from 79.8% to 67.9%, there is an increase in planned acquisitions, rising from 14.3% to 27.0%. This suggests that despite the prevalence of basic antivirus measures, organizations are increasingly planning for more advanced security solutions. The text also mentions the impending convergence between EPP and leading-edge EDR technologies, which might redefine how cyberthreats are detected and responded to. The author speculates that as these technologies converge, organizations may benefit from a hybrid approach where AV signatures continue to block basic threats while freeing up resources for AI/machine learning algorithms to detect more sophisticated, emerging threats. This conclusion is drawn from the "Current Perceptions" section of the 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report by CyberEdge Group, which explores current security practices and future investments in cyber defense strategies. The report also includes data on mobile security deployment status among organizations. The survey shows that most companies use or plan to use several types of mobile security technologies to protect data accessed by mobile devices against cyber threats. The most commonly used technology is mobile device anti-virus/anti-malware, followed by VPN to on-premises security gateway and mobile device file/data encryption. In terms of planned acquisitions for 2018, containerization/micro-virtualization remains the top choice, with network access control (NAC) and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) also being considered important additions to their mobile security strategies. This indicates that while some technologies have become more widely accepted over time, others are still highly valued for their potential to safeguard sensitive data on smartphones and tablets. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights that there has been a decline in adoption of application management solutions such as Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM), with usage dropping by 6.9% over the past year, from 60.7% to 53.8%. The report also focuses on security technology deployment status across various enterprises. It identifies web application firewalls (WAF) as a prevalent solution at 66.1% adoption rate, while database firewalls and database encryption/tokenization are adopted by 64.6% and 56.9%, respectively. Other technologies like Database activity monitoring (DAM), File integrity/activity monitoring (FIM/FAM), Runtime application self-protection (RASP), Static/dynamic/interactive application security testing (SAST/DAST/IAST), Container security tools/platform, Deception technology/distributed honeypots, Cloud access security broker (CASB), Application delivery controller (ADC), and API gateway are also in use or planned for acquisition. Among these, the most notable addition to the list is the API gateway with a planned adoption rate of 40.7%. The 2018 Cyber Threat Defense Report highlights a significant shift in IT security investment strategies. Enterprises are increasingly focusing on technologies that enhance confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, with container security tools/platform (34.8%) and API gateway (33.7%) being the next-highest planned for acquisition technologies after CASB at 34.8%. This indicates a higher frequency of adoption and acquisition compared to other security technologies listed. The biggest year-over-year increase in adoption was seen in deception technology/distributed honeypots, which rose by 3.5%, from 45.7% in 2017 to 49.2% in 2018. Conversely, application delivery controller (ADC) technology experienced a substantial decline, dropping by 10.4%, from 58.7% in 2017 to 48.3% in 2018. This change may be due to the reduced need for traditional ADC offerings with the increasing adoption of cloud-native applications. The article discusses a survey regarding cyberthreats and focuses on whether investments should prioritize prevention or detection and response. It states that some argue prevention solutions are more effective in blocking threats before they cause harm, while others believe detecting and responding to threats is crucial due to the sophistication of modern attacks and lack of well-defined perimeters. The debate has persisted among vendors and organizations for several years with no clear consensus. According to a survey conducted by the article's authors, approximately one third favored prevention, another third preferred detection and response, while about a quarter opted for both methods. The results suggest that some organizations might have under-invested in detection and response capabilities historically, particularly when compared on a relative basis. This implies that perhaps, more attention should be given to improving the detection and response mechanisms alongside prevention strategies. The author concludes by supporting their own research findings, which they believe indicate that the prevention vs. detection debate is somewhat unnecessary due to these results. The article argues that what matters most in cyberthreat management isn't necessarily about choosing between prevention or reaction but rather finding a balance and improving both capabilities. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights the increasing adoption of cloud computing for cybersecurity measures due to its time-to-market advantages and scalability. Despite the prevalence of on-premises deployment of security technologies, a majority of respondents indicated that they use both on-premises and cloud deployments. This dual approach suggests a strategic balance between traditional in-house solutions and cloud services to enhance overall cyber defense capabilities. The text discusses how cloud deployment and delivery have made significant strides in cybersecurity, particularly with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), despite the popularity of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and SOC-as-a-service offerings. It also highlights a shift towards cloud-based solutions for various technologies like CASBs (Cloud Access Security Brokers) and advanced malware analysis/sandbox due to their hybrid nature involving both on-premises components and in-the-cloud elements. The text suggests that these types of technology are more likely deployed in the cloud, although detailed analyses will be conducted next year to solidify this trend. Additionally, it notes a growing understanding among market respondents about the benefits of standalone appliances for offloading decryption tasks related to SSL/TLS traffic within their organizations. In a cybersecurity report from two years later (Fast forward two years), it is revealed that there has been marked improvement in the ability to decrypt SSL/TLS-encrypted traffic, with only 4.2% now indicating their organization lacks this capability. This improvement is seen across various sectors including small organizations and education & government institutions which were previously more likely to lack such decryption abilities. The report also highlights that over a quarter (26.0%) of respondents' organizations rely exclusively on native capabilities in the inspection tools, while nearly seven out of ten use standalone decryption appliances, suggesting an increased reliance on specialized hardware for this purpose. This data underscores advancements in cyber-defense infrastructure and technologies aimed at enhancing visibility into encrypted network traffic to combat threats effectively. The research highlights that organizations are increasingly integrating commercial and open source threat intelligence into their security infrastructure primarily for the purpose of improving threat blocking capabilities (58.2%). Despite other potential benefits such as enhancing threat detection, investigation, and network traffic management, these areas show stagnant or decreasing interest in supplemental threat intelligence sources compared to blocking. The research suggests that while there may be less interest in using threat intelligence for non-blocking purposes, this could change in the future, possibly due to a lack of awareness or underutilization of current capabilities from security product vendors. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights the importance of improving threat detection capabilities in cybersecurity strategies. It emphasizes that stopping threats outright is more effective than detecting and investigating them, as it eliminates the need for downstream activities. According to the survey, both US-based respondents (58.5%) and large enterprises (over 25,000 employees) prioritize this use case as the top one for better threat blocking. User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) continues to gain interest but faces a modest uptake in planned acquisitions, with most organizations still operating their Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and UEBA solutions independently or seeing them converge into a single platform. The report suggests that as these technologies evolve, they are becoming more integrated, indicating a trend towards convergence in the market. This summary discusses research on insider threats, UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics) investments, and comparisons between SIEMs (Security Information and Event Management) and UEBA. The study reveals that addressing the insider threat problem is a significant driver for UEBA investments in China and South Africa, with data exfiltration being particularly important. For Japanese respondents, detecting data exfiltration ranks highest among use cases for UEBA. Medium-size organizations (5,000 to 9,999 employees) are struggling more with the insider threat problem compared to larger organizations. In healthcare, concerns about insider threats are shared with those in manufacturing, where data exfiltration is a primary focus. The study suggests that thwarting threats sooner rather than later in their lifecycle is beneficial for organizations. A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is a type of technology that provides security and management for cloud applications used by employees or third parties. It helps protect data from unwanted disclosures by monitoring user activities, detecting unauthorized apps, and enforcing access controls. For the past three years, CASBs have been gaining popularity as they can provide visibility into shadow IT usage, comprehensive protection against threats, data loss prevention, and support for compliance with regulations. They are often compared to network firewalls and endpoint anti-malware software but offer more flexibility and features. The most common reasons for investing in a CASB include discovering unsanctioned cloud apps (especially popular among respondents from Mexico and the UK) and detecting advanced threats. Additionally, retail companies place a high priority on this type of security due to their concerns about unauthorized app usage. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlighted that organizations are investing in CASB technology as a way to address specific challenges related to advanced threats, unsanctioned applications, and granular access control to cloud services. These investments were less common among smaller companies (500-999 employees) but still significant, with regulatory compliance being the second most important reason for investment after detecting advanced threats. The report also emphasized that enterprise security teams often outsource certain IT security functions to MSSPs, and managing web application firewalls is a task they are increasingly delegating to these providers, likely due to their expertise in this area. The article discusses a survey regarding the top functions for which organizations utilize Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs). Key findings include that "Monitoring / managing advanced threat defense technologies" is highly prioritized by respondents, with almost nine in ten organizations using MSSPs. Vulnerability scanning (39.6%), DDoS mitigation (36.9%), and event analysis/reporting (35.5%) are also among the top functions being managed by MSSPs. Notably, vulnerability scanning was a leading function for which respondents from China (56.0%) and Italy (40.4%) indicated their organizations utilize MSSPs. In terms of organization size, medium-sized enterprises (5,000 to 9,999 employees) are the most likely to engage with MSSPs as a service, while smaller organizations (500 to 999 employees) show less interest in utilizing these services, trailing at 82.8%. This indicates that larger companies may feel more pressure or recognize greater need for specialized security functions and therefore seek out external MSSP support, likely due to the complexity of managing such advanced technologies as part of their overall cybersecurity strategy. This trend underscores a broader shift in how enterprises are approaching cyber defense strategies—moving away from solely relying on internal IT teams and adopting more collaborative approaches with professional services providers who specialize in handling high-level security functions. This dynamic reflects not only the increasing sophistication of modern threats but also organizations' recognition of the limitations or inefficiencies of their own capabilities, particularly when it comes to keeping pace with rapidly evolving technology trends and regulatory compliance requirements. In summary, while MSSPs are increasingly popular for managing advanced threat defense technologies and other critical security functions, there remains a significant portion of enterprises—particularly smaller ones—that either do not utilize these services or have less pressing need for them in their cybersecurity strategy. The findings suggest that organizations' decisions to engage MSSPs may be influenced more by the specific functionalities they are seeking to offload rather than the technology itself. This highlights both opportunities and challenges for MSSPs as they continue to expand their market presence, particularly in addressing the evolving needs of smaller enterprises whose security posture is often less robust but no less important to protect in today's complex digital landscape. The article discusses the results of a survey related to cybersecurity measures within organizations. It highlights that despite having some defenses in place, such as internal firewalling and micro-segmentation for limiting lateral traversal, there are still significant gaps and vulnerabilities. This includes mobile devices (like smartphones and tablets), which have long been considered weak links in security, now joined by containers as new vectors of vulnerability. The article also notes that many organizations are not confident in their investment in cyberthreat hunting solutions, which is crucial for effective detection of threats missed by other countermeasures. There seems to be confusion about selecting the right solution model that fits with the organization's architecture and management operations. This lack of confidence and understanding affects how well these measures can protect against potential threats effectively. However, there are also signs of improvement:

• For the first time in this survey, a positive shift was observed where organizations showed more confidence about their ability to limit the impact of initially successful breaches by investing in micro-segmentation.

• There is an awareness that reducing the attack surface by building security into applications and using micro-segmentation can improve overall defense mechanisms within the organization.

In conclusion, while there are still challenges and gaps in current cybersecurity measures, such as choosing the right solution model for micro-segmentation or cyberthreat hunting, there are also signs of progress where organizations appear to be more aware of these issues and making efforts to address them. In four years, there was a decrease in the enforcement points coordinated via a sophisticated policy for handling cyber threats across organizations. Additionally, there was a decline in the percentage of respondents' organizations that experienced at least one successful cyberattack within the last year, with fewer being victimized six or more times during this period. The Threat Concern Index also saw a drop, reflecting concerns about various cyberthreats affecting enterprises today. When considering these trends, it is important to evaluate several key criteria: 1) Scope of coverage - whether the solution works seamlessly for all virtual, cloud, and physical infrastructure; 2) Manageability - how easy or difficult it is to visualize and manage your entire environment while maintaining granular security policies; 3) Automation - the extent to which policies are automatically enforced and adjust as computing environments change; 4) Intelligent adaptability - how well policies can be adjusted in real-time according to environmental changes. Next-generation SIEMs (Security Information and Event Management) have emerged, aiming to improve upon traditional models by collecting more diverse security data, offering faster search capabilities, and automating policy enforcement. These advanced systems should enhance an organization's ability to defend against current and future cyber threats effectively. The 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report highlights the challenges posed by sophisticated cyber threats in today's diverse and distributed computing environments. As data volumes grow, traditional static correlation rules are becoming less effective due to the increasing sophistication of threats. To address this, the report suggests embracing security analytics with technologies like machine learning, statistical analysis, and behavioral modeling. This approach is closely associated with micro-segmentation and User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), which provide added contextual detail for enhanced threat detection. The report also emphasizes the importance of automation in tool usage and response activities to improve efficiency and effectiveness in detecting threats missed by traditional methods. Additionally, it notes trends such as the shift from traditional application architectures to microservices, and increasing externalization of services or entire applications, which are reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. The article emphasizes integrating Internet of Things (IoT), mobile devices, cloud services, and software into a cohesive system that includes extensive APIs for external connections. This integration aims to enhance security operations center (SOC) personnel's capabilities by providing more than basic ticketing and case management features. Key aspects of the solution include: 1. Extensive library of pre-built API calls for connecting to and coordinating with existing security and network infrastructure. 2. The ability to develop and implement playbooks that codify best practices in response activities, automating these processes. 3. Essential security features such as multi-layer authentication, authorization, auditing, threat protection, data leakage protection, and data encryption. 4. Additional capabilities include language transformation (e.g., XML/JSON, SOAP/REST), request/response validation, session persistence, caching, load balancing, and usage rate monitoring and control. These features collectively form an API gateway that serves as a critical infrastructure component for managing external connections in security scenarios. The article discusses expectations for some crossover and consolidation between DevOps/DevSecOps product segments. It notes that transitioning to such paths can be challenging due to organizational realignment issues. To overcome these hurdles, the author suggests starting with low-hanging fruit investments in application security testing (combining static and dynamic types) and open source vulnerability management tools. This approach aims to reduce the attack surface by addressing security defects in custom-developed code. The article also mentions a forthcoming CDR (Cyberthreat Defense Report) sixth annual edition, based on survey results from 1,200 participants across 17 countries, providing insights into current IT security practices and perceptions globally. The survey research for the 2018 Cyberthreat Defense Report was conducted among IT security professionals from organizations with at least 500 employees. A total of around one quarter of the respondents identified as IT security administrators, followed by approximately one in ten as IT security analysts or incident responders, data protection/privacy officers, and security architects/engineers. The survey participation varied across different roles within IT security, and there was a strong representation from organizations with employee counts ranging from 1,000 to 4,999 (33.0%). Participants were widely distributed across various industries, with the "big 7" sectors such as education, finance, government, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and telecom & technology accounting for just shy of two-thirds of all respondents. No single industry made up more than 15% of participants. The CyberEdge Group conducted a web-based survey in November 2017 to gather information from cybersecurity professionals globally. They developed a 27-question survey with an option to choose "don't know," aiming to avoid biased answers by not asking questions outside the respondents' expertise areas. The survey was sent to IT security experts across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Surveys were partnered with sponsoring vendors for better reach and relevance. To maintain accuracy, qualified responses were screened for potential cheating behaviors, such as giving consistent answers regardless of the question asked. Responses deemed unqualified or suspicious were discarded. The survey aimed to gather insights from cybersecurity professionals about advanced threat protection, operational technology, application security, and various other IT security topics listed in the appendix. The document provides an overview of the services offered by CyberEdge Group, a company specializing in threat intelligence and related cybersecurity solutions. These services include managed security services, user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA), mobile device management (MDM), virtualization security, network behavior analysis (NBA), vulnerability management (VM), network forensics, and web application firewalls (WAF). CyberEdge Group also offers Next-generation Firewalls (NGFW) and is involved in research related to cybersecurity. The document encourages third parties to incorporate textual or graphical elements from this report into their presentations, reports, websites, product collateral, and other marketing communications by adhering to an acceptable use policy provided by CyberEdge Group. The report emphasizes the importance of following specific guidelines when referencing parts of the report, including not modifying figures and tables and ensuring that no implied endorsements are made on behalf of CyberEdge Group. For more information or to contact CyberEdge Group, users can call 800-327-8711, email info@cyber-edge.com, or visit www.cyber-edge.com. The document concludes by mentioning that the most recent Cyberthreat Defense Report may be available for download at no charge on CyberEdge's website. The text provided outlines a set of guidelines regarding the usage of content from a specific report by CyberEdge Group. According to these rules, the internal use of the report's content is strictly prohibited for implying favor or support from CyberEdge. If external parties wish to incorporate any part of this report into their works, they must include a citation in the form of a footnote, quoting: "Source: 2018 CyberThreat to the Economy Report, CyberEdge Group, LLC." Additionally, if there are questions about these guidelines or requests for permission to use the content differently, one should email research@cyber-edge.com. The report and any accompanying textual or graphical elements are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved under the name of CyberEdge Group, LLC.

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