Which industries are best equipped to prevent cyber attacks?

According to Synack’s 2019 Trust Report, manufacturing and critical infrastructure and the financial services industry are leading the way in cyber security preparedness. The industries and institutions that are actively working to combat threats but still have work to do include eCommerce companies, state and local governments and educational institutions, and consulting/business and IT service providers. Additionally, the federal government, the healthcare industry, retailers, and tech companies have made great strides in terms of readiness as they work to address constantly evolving threats.

Synack has determined that manufacturing and critical infrastructure operations have had to adopt a more proactive approach to securing their infrastructure because the industry is a top target for attacks by governments and large entities or ‘state actors’. In turn, they are more mature in their testing than other industries. On the other hand, eCommerce trails other industries with an Attacker Resistance Score below average. Given digital forces pushing the industry to take its businesses online, it’s not surprising that fast development cycles and frequent releases are creating new vulnerabilities.

This new report underscores the increasingly important role trust is playing across a diverse set of industries and institutions. Organisations and entities that fail to engage in continuous, comprehensive penetration testing that provides actionable results run the risk of suffering irreparable damage to their reputation, brand, and bottom line.

To arrive at its Attacker Resistance Score, Synack takes into account attacker cost, the severity of its findings, and remediation efficiency. If you would like to learn more about the industries, institutions, and organisations that are doing the most to combat increasing cyber threats, the ones that are most vulnerable, or more about Synack’s methodology and findings, please do not hesitate to reach out. I would love to put you in touch with a member of the Synack team and share more from the 2019 Trust Report.