Research by Leiberman Software has revealed that the vast majority of IT professionals think running security drills help them prepare for cyber attacks, yet only two thirds actively use them to safeguard the organisation against such attacks.
The survey questioned 150 IT security professionals about their company's policies when it comes to cyber attack prevention.
It revealed that only one in ten companies has implemented quarterly cyber drills, while 26 per cent conduct them twice a year.
"IT security is a companywide issue," said Philip Lieberman, CEO of Lieberman Software. "Any CEO or corporate board who does not realise this will have a nasty shock when their company is attacked, their share price plummets and they lose customers. Corporate boards should learn about the cyber threats targeting their companies, and should have a good understanding of the company's IT security posture."
He added that executive management should take an over-cautious attitude, assuming intruders are already infiltrating the network, and respond by securing privileged access and removing shared and out of date credentials (such as those used by previous staff members) to stop criminals from delving deeper into the network.
"What concerns me most about this survey is that the majority of IT security professionals fully understand the benefits of running cyber security drills, but only a small percentage actually put these drills into practice," Lieberman added.
"In today's threat landscape, organisations are attacked continuously. With this in mind, you would think companies would be doing everything they can to limit the damage of potential cyber attacks. However, our study reveals this clearly isn't the case. And IT teams are fully aware of the consequences."
