SECURITY

The scale and impact of cyber-responsibility is weighing on IT teams as they share insights into the increased pressure they face . of the respondents ( 49 %), and a lack of access to threat intelligence is a critical issue for 68 %. ore than half ( 54 %) of European

IT decision makers ( ITDMs ) admit that the fear of their organisation being attacked by cybercriminals regularly keeps them awake at night . The figure rises to 63 % among smaller-sized companies with 100 – 249 employees , according to data from Corelight .

Entitled Productive Paranoia – How Threat Hunters Can Turn Their Fear of the Unknown into a Positive , the report gathered insights from senior ITDMs across the UK , France and Germany , and highlights the anxiety caused by the rapidly changing threat landscape .

Despite meticulous planning , the unpredictability of cyberthreats remains a significant challenge . With remote work environments and supply chain threats dominating the list of concerns , ITDMs are in a constant race to keep up with the latest threats .

“ Ambiguity and uncertainty are not just occasional challenges but the norm in security operations ,” said Matt Ellison , Technical Director EMEA at Corelight . “ This is why embracing what we term ‘ productive paranoia ’ is crucial . By combining advanced AI technology with human intelligence , organisations can proactively manage threats and build resilience .”

Survey Insights : The Pulse of European IT professionals

The survey reveals that 86 % of ITDMs are feeling increased pressure from executive leadership since 2020 . This pressure is compounded by the ever-shifting threat landscape , where remote working environments currently top the list of challenges ( 51 %), with supply chain threats expected to rise significantly ( 67 %) over the next year . Whilst playing catch-up with the latest threats is the biggest challenge for half

Embracing the fear : Building resilience

Despite these challenges , there is a clear drive to address anxiety and build resilience against new and unknown threats . More than three-quarters ( 78 %) of respondents are committed to enhancing their SecOps capabilities . However , the fast-changing threat landscape ( 44 %) and a shortage of skilled security team members ( 41 %) remain significant barriers .

The Perfect Security Formula : AI and Human Intelligence

The survey also sheds light on the ideal security approach , which respondents believe to be a blend of people and technology . Nearly half ( 45 %) of the organisations already employ dedicated threat hunters , with risk-based threat hunting and threat intelligence-based strategies being the most popular ( both 60 %).

However , as threat volumes surge and adversaries deploy automated tools , human efforts alone are insufficient . This is where AI , specifically GenAI , comes into play . GenAI enhances threat hunter productivity by reducing human error and enabling rapid , sophisticated search queries . It can also summarise large data volumes , preventing analyst overload .

It ’ s no surprise that 89 % of respondents are either using GenAI or planning to integrate it into their solution stacks . When asked about the biggest impact on improving security scenarios by 2033 , the most popular answer was ‘ AI & automation for threat hunting and prevention ’ ( 50 %).

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