Thales Data Threat Report 2018: 93% of Indian Respondents Plan on Increasing IT Security Spending in 2018

Thales, a leader in critical information systems, cybersecurity and data security, announces the findings of its 2018 Thales Data Threat Report, India edition, issued in conjunction with analyst firm 451 Research. The report finds that a striking 93% of Indian respondents plan on increasing IT security spending this year, the highest among all countries surveyed and well above the global average (78%).

This year’s findings demonstrate a mix of good and bad news for Indian organisations in adopting security strategies to prevent the breach of sensitive data at their workplaces.

According to the report, digital transformation across the globe has led to the growth of new business models that are focused on driving growth and profitability for organisations including cloud, IoT, big data and blockchain. Indians recognise encryption with Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) capabilities as the top security tool for securing sensitive data in cloud environments and continue to spend their resources on the same technology.

The report also states that the government’s steps toward ensuring transparency under the ‘Aadhaar programme’ have resulted in an increase in IT security spending by Indian organisations. At the same time, reports of successful data breaches in India are second only to Sweden among all geographical and vertical markets.

Key findings:

* In India, the top choice for satisfying data privacy laws is encryption (30% vs. 42% globally, where it is also the top choice), followed by tokenization (25% vs. 20% globally) 
* Around 52% of Indian respondents reported a data breach last year, way above the global average (36%). Further, a full three quarters (75%) of respondents in India reported being breached at some time in the past, compared with just 67% globally.
* 62% of Indian respondents report feeling ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ vulnerable to attacks on sensitive data (37% ‘extremely’ vulnerable), well ahead of the global average (44%).
* Indian organisations are apparently not spending their valuable IT security funds in the right places.
* 91% list analysis and correlation as the most effective weapons to stop data breaches followed closely by data-in-motion/data-at-rest defenses at 90% each
* Endpoint/mobile defenses are ranked least effective (81%)
* Yet endpoint/mobile defenses are ranked at the top in terms of spending plans (81%), with data-at-rest at the bottom (54%).
* 85% of Indian respondents say compliance is either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ effective at stopping breaches, again way ahead of the global average (64%).
* Indian respondents are relatively unconcerned about storing sensitive data in cloud environments, with 92% of Indian respondents reporting that their organisations store sensitive data in some form of public cloud (either IaaS, PaaS or SaaS), well ahead of the global average of 74%.
* Concerns about performance impacts and business processes are the top barriers cited in India to IT security, followed by perceptions of complexity (48%) and perceived need (37%).

The data in the report is based on detailed inputs from over 100 senior IT security managers in India – all part of the Thales 2018 Global Data Threat Report, which polled 1,200 IT security managers in eight countries and across four major vertical markets.

“The world today revolves around technology and more and more organisations are reshaping the way they do business with digital transformation. As the world becomes more connected, it also becomes more vulnerable. Cybersecurity has become an indispensable part of our digital technologies. At Thales, we have been helping our customers to think smarter and act faster during the complexities that arise each day and mitigate the challenges successfully.

“This year’s India Data Threat Report 2018 emphasizes the need for change in security strategies to prevent the continuous increase in data breaches and also highlights privacy and data protection practices,” said Emmanuel de Roquefeuil, VP & Country Director, Thales in India.

“The report reveals data about increasing cyber threats in India and is a call to action for organisations to strengthen their security posture and take steps towards protecting their data. We’re now at the point where we have to admit that data breaches are the new reality with over half of organizations in India suffering a breach in the last year. In this increasingly data-driven world it is therefore hugely important that organizations take steps to protect that data wherever it is created, shared or stored. Thales provides everything an organization needs to protect and manage its data, identities and intellectual property, and meet regulatory compliance – through encryption, advanced key management, tokenization, privileged-user control and high-assurance solutions,” said James Cook, Sales Director South Asia, Thales eSecurity.