As cyberattacks have become more frequent and severe, many businesses have redoubled their security efforts, determined to reduce their exposure to risk wherever possible. However, several major vulnerabilities have gone unaddressed despite IT professionals’ repeated warnings. This disconnect between IT and management has hampered more comprehensive security efforts and effectively created cybersecurity “blind spots.” Unsurprisingly, my organization CompTIA's Practices of Security Professionals report found that less than half of firms, regardless of size, are completely satisfied with their current security environment.
CIOs must lead the charge to foster better cybersecurity awareness and address deficient processes in their organization, particularly around employee deboarding. Businesses often do a good job of monitoring and controlling workers’ tech use on the job, but need to better evaluate vulnerabilities in their offboarding process with an eye toward protecting organizational data and resources.