BDNA, the leading IT data intelligence provider that equips enterprises with clean, comprehensive information to better manage their IT ecosystems, today released a report on the importance of cybersecurity on enterprise IT in 2015 and steps that can be taken to protect against ever-changing vulnerabilities. The findings are part of a quarterly State of the Enterprise report that covers the most important issues affecting enterprise IT, including security and asset management.

In the past cyberattacks were an attempt to disrupt a service or steal intellectual property, but they've increasingly become attempts at stealing data. As a result, there's been an increase of attacks on companies that store sensitive user or consumer information.

With high-profile financial institutions and big box retailers no longer being the only targets, companies that previously saw themselves as irrelevant to hackers have become vulnerable. According to BDNA's report, before an enterprise's potential threats can be assessed it must: 

• Understand that the nature of cyber threats themselves is evolving
• Get out in front of threats before they become an issue
• Implement an enterprise-wide common IT language enriched with asset data
• Have clean data that provides insight into the system's contents and architecture
• Fight against the tendency to work in silos

"Our experience working with organizations on cybersecurity has shown us the damage a breach can inflict on a company and the backlash that follows," said Walker White, president of BDNA. "With the average security breach costing between $3 million and $5 million, it's critical that companies have a proactive mindset and put policies in place instead of reacting as they happen."

The next security vulnerability could arise at any time as threats will always exist and continue to evolve through 2015 and beyond. The full report on how 2015 is a crucial year for cybersecurity and enterprise IT can be found here.