IT security pros in UK show more faith in board than U.S. counterparts

In a recent survey conducted by Dimensional Research, 71% of UK workers said that they regard their board as being literate in cyber security, compared to just 57% of U.S. employees.

The survey was released by Tripwire and featured feedback from 200 cyber security professionals working for U.S. firms turning over at least $5bn, and 171 cyber pros working for UK firms turning over £500m or more.

Just half of IT pros in the U.S. said that the board included a member who is in charge of cyber security, compared to 71% in the UK.

Close to one third of U.S. employees feel that information received by the board failed to be an accurate representation of the intensity and urgency of cyber threats to their company, compared to a mere 13% that felt the same way in the UK.

However, Dwayne Melancon, technology officer at Tripwire, said:

“From my experience, I believe some of the respondents may be overly optimistic about the cybersecurity literacy of their boards, which could be a challenge. Fortunately, a good number of organisations recognise that their current approach to depicting cyber-security status falls short of their goal of creating an appropriate sense of urgency within their executive ranks.”

Whether the feedback is optimistic or not, having a member of the board being responsible for cyber security is a step in the right direction. However, part of that responsibility should be making cyber security jobs available to those who are experts in their field.