Seemplicity, a leading cybersecurity company based in Palo Alto, California, recently unveiled its annual 2024 Remediation Operations Report. This report offers a detailed analysis of the current trends, challenges, and best practices in cybersecurity, as observed by 300 cybersecurity professionals in the United States.
According to the survey conducted by Seemplicity, an overwhelming 91% of respondents reported an increase in their security budgets for the year, indicating a growing acknowledgment of the significance of cybersecurity within organizations. This increase in budget aligns with the prevailing trends noted by the respondents, which include the complexity of vendor environments, the rising importance of automation in vulnerability management, the escalating investments in artificial intelligence (AI), and the emergence of new opportunities and challenges due to SEC incident reporting requirements.
The survey revealed that organizations are utilizing an average of 38 different security product vendors, leading to high levels of complexity and fragmentation in their attack surfaces. Consequently, over half of the respondents (51%) experience a significant amount of noise generated by their security tools, hindering their ability to accurately identify and prioritize vulnerabilities. This noise also results in slow or delayed risk reduction, making it challenging for organizations to respond promptly to security threats.
Despite these challenges, 85% of respondents find it difficult to manage the noise effectively. To address this issue, 95% reported using at least one method to reduce the noise, underscoring the critical need to streamline vulnerability management processes.
Moreover, automation has emerged as a key player in enhancing vulnerability and exposure management, with 97% of respondents indicating some level of automation in their processes. Automation is primarily used for vulnerability scanning, prioritization, and remediation processes, enabling organizations to identify and address security risks more efficiently.
However, the survey also highlighted that around 44% of respondents still rely on manual methods to some extent, suggesting potential barriers to full automation adoption. Nonetheless, the benefits of automation are widely recognized, with 89% of leaders noting its positive impact on vulnerability management, particularly in enabling faster responses to emerging threats.
Furthermore, the findings indicate a significant focus on increasing AI investments in the next five years, with 85% of companies planning to boost their AI capabilities. AI is expected to play a crucial role in vulnerability assessment and prioritization, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of identifying vulnerabilities and assessing their potential impact.
While AI holds promise in enhancing cybersecurity capabilities, there are concerns about its integration in software development processes. Nearly 68% of respondents expressed apprehensions about AI accelerating code development at a pace beyond the capacity of security teams, posing challenges for effective vulnerability management.
Additionally, more than half of the surveyed organizations view the new SEC incident reporting requirements as an opportunity to enhance their vulnerability management practices. These regulations are expected to improve logging and reporting, as well as enhance security hygiene within organizations.
Overall, the report underscores a shift towards continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) programs, with 90% of respondents likely to adopt such initiatives. CTEM enables organizations to proactively monitor their IT infrastructure for vulnerabilities, ensuring better preparedness against evolving cybersecurity threats.
Seemplicity aims to revolutionize risk reduction efforts by providing a platform that orchestrates, automates, and consolidates all remediation activities into one workspace. Founded by cybersecurity experts in 2020, Seemplicity’s innovative approach to security operations aims to establish complete operational resilience and scalability in security programs for organizations of all sizes.