Security News > 2023 > May > Organizations are placing OT cybersecurity responsibility on CISOs

"Fortinet's report shows that while OT organizations have improved their overall cybersecurity posture, they also have continued opportunity for improvement. Networking and IT teams are under extraordinary pressure to adapt and become more OT-aware, and organizations are shifting to find and employ solutions that implement security across their entire IT/OT environment to reduce their overall security risk," said John Maddison, EVP Products and CMO at Fortinet.

While the number of organizations that did not incur a cybersecurity intrusion improved dramatically YoY, there is still significant room for improvement.

In 2023, the number of respondents who consider their organization's OT security posture as "Highly mature" fell to 13% from 21% the year before, suggesting growing awareness among OT professionals and more effective tools for self-assessing their organizations' cybersecurity capabilities.

While nearly every organization faces an up-hill battle when it comes to finding qualified security practitioners due to the growing cybersecurity skills shortage, report findings suggest OT organizations are continuing to prioritize cybersecurity.

A key indicator is that 95% organization plans on placing the responsibility for OT cybersecurity under a CISO in the next 12 months rather than an operations executive or team.

Cybersecurity training remains critical as the cybersecurity battle requires the collective empowerment of all employees to have the knowledge and awareness to work together to protect themselves and their organization's data.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/05/31/ot-cybersecurity-responsibility/