Remember when David Bowie and Freddie Mercury sang about pressure? "Under Pressure" was a classic rock anthem of the 80s. There's one line in the song that always stands out for me: These are the days - it never rains but it pours.
Don't we all feel like that? Those times when the pressure of life or work is so intense that it feels like we're getting poured on all day long. For IT security professionals - the men and women we care most about at Trustwave - this is a daily occurrence.
They've become accustomed to the tension. Stressors are coming from every direction: advanced threats, skills shortages, budget constraints, emerging technologies… the list goes on.
At Trustwave, we wanted to measure exactly what is causing the most pressure because we believe that knowing this can help businesses make better decisions regarding their information security programs and spark important discussions companywide about how to boost data protection.
So we surveyed 833 IT security pros in four countries about these constraints. The result was the 2014 Security Pressures Report.
The report revealed a number of interesting findings, some obvious, some less so. For example, four of five IT pros said they were pressured to roll out projects that weren't security-ready. Meanwhile, three out of four IT teams currently run security in-house, but 82 percent use, or are looking to use, managed security services in the future to help alleviate pressures.
At the conclusion of the findings, we provide a list of 10 actionable recommendations for alleviating some of this pressure.
The report makes no claims that these pressures can be eliminated entirely. But hopefully with some changes in mindset and a fresh perspective for dealing with the problem, security pros can reduce that pouring rain to a manageable drizzle.