Indian Firms are “Over Confident” About Cybersecurity, Report Says

Cyber Security Investing

A report from Fico shows 62 percent of Indian firms say their cybersecurity investments will increase in the year ahead.

Indian companies are “overly confident” in their cybersecurity preparedness despite having limited cybersecurity tools at their disposal, says a report from Fico (NYSE:FICO), released on Thursday (October 18).

The report says 88 percent of Indian firms disclosed they are better prepared than their competitors, while 80 percent believe the overall cyberthreat and data breach in the country would go up.

It was also revealed that 62 percent of Indian firms said that their cybersecurity investment will increase in the year ahead while the figure rose to 67 percent for the financial sector and 80 percent for utilities.

The survey, conducted by research and consultancy firm Ovum — with the findings revealed in Fico’s report — showcase that one in three Indian firms surveyed are capped with tools that provide only a point-in-time assessment of their cybersecurity risk.

“In India the rapid digitization of numerous sectors of the economy has presented the country with enormous opportunity as well as risk,” Vishal Goyal, country manager of Fico, said in a release. “Staying abreast of global standards and the rapidly changing landscape of cybersecurity remains a challenge.”

Meanwhile, the survey revealed that 40 percent of respondents from the financial sector feel investors and customers have the greatest influence on their cybersecurity strategies.

“IT leaders are undoubtedly keen to believe that the money being spent provides their organization with a better security posture than any other – but the rapid pace of investment, often in point solutions, rarely takes an organization-wide view of security,” Maxine Holt, research director at Ovum, said in the release.

India’s digital journey has leaped several lengths in recent years as the country has registered a double digit growth rate in getting users connected to the internet.

A recent report from Research And Markets highlighted that India’s cybersecurity sector is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 19 percent between 2018 and 2023.

With the level of growth forecasted for the sector, investors can jump into the sector as the report mentions numerous companies who are active in the sector in India which include the Indian subsidiaries of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), Symantec Software (NASDAQ:SYMC), Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT), Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR) and Palo Alto (NYSE:PANW).