Retailers have not only had to contend with the business disruption
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have also experienced increased
security risks in the work-from-anywhere environment that has accelerated their
transition to the cloud. Furthermore, communications between security
operations staff have become more complex, with network downtime also increasing.
This is according to independent research sponsored by FireMon.
The independent survey of cybersecurity leaders at retail businesses across the United
States and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, highlights how security remains
a crucial component as these organizations take steps towards digital
transformation and transitioning more of their operations to the cloud. With
43% of respondents indicating that the pandemic has resulted in them
accelerating their IT infrastructure transition to the cloud, network security
teams are dealing with increased complexity at the same time rates of change
are increasing significantly. These changes have brought about a rush to
implement a zero trust architecture, with 81% of respondents affirming that
they have already implemented or will do so in the next two years. In support of
this is the popularity of utilizing a SASE platform. The majority (80%) of
respondents are in alignment that achieving zero trust, reducing cost and
complexity, and enabling a predictable user experience are the forces driving
their network security posture in 2022.
"The modern, digitally-enabled retailer cannot afford to experience
any disruption whether that is caused by network downtime or cybersecurity
incidents. In the wake of the pandemic, customers have higher expectations than
ever before when it comes to fulfilling their online orders. They want a
consistent, integrated, and smooth shopping experience. If a retailer cannot
provide that, it is a case of moving over to a competitor who can. This
indicates just how important effective cybersecurity has become for retailers.
Many are managing clients at a global level with the attack surface increasing
exponentially because of that," said Tim Woods, VP of Technology Alliances at
FireMon.
The importance of bolstering cyber defenses is evident considering
how 89% of retailers said unplanned downtime to business-critical and
customer-facing applications disrupted operations over the last nine
months. Given the evolving cyberthreat landscape when it comes to
e-commerce threats for retail stores with an online presence, most
organizations (63%) said that having the best security technology in place is
essential, even if that means using multiple vendors. To meet an increasingly
dynamic business environment retail IT teams are looking to security automation,
with 98% of respondents stating its importance to ensuring overall security,
compliance, and team efficiency.
"We've
seen our retail customers at the forefront of security innovation as we emerge
from the pandemic," said Woods. "They're moving to the cloud, they're
automating security and compliance processes, and they're adopting new zero
trust architectures - all in the service of increasing agility and
responsiveness."
To
discuss more of the insights in the independent research, FireMon will be
hosting a Black Hat Lunch &
Learn session. In this session, the company will discuss the retail security
environment in the context of the rapid digital transformation taking place.
This will be followed by a view of the practical steps companies are taking to
manage the security of their systems better to safeguard not only their brand
but also the customer experience.
For more
information on the session, click here.
To read the full report, click here.