Origin Comms,
information security and technology PR specialist, today announced findings
from research into the media consumption trends of IT security professionals.
The research highlighted that IT security professionals spend an average of
only seven minutes reading an article at any one time yet admitted to spending
nearly an hour (58 mins) on average researching a breach when they hear about
it.
There are vast opportunities for organizations prepared to comment on data
breaches. Effective rapid response to data breach news can help position
company executives as authorities on the topic by providing accurate,
actionable and audience-specific insight. This can be followed by marketing
activity with website links to advisory papers or additional articles on the
topic.
The findings of the Origin research also reinforce the decline in legacy media
and illustrate how habits in media consumption and news engagement are heavily
stratified by the IT Security sector. Newspapers (5%), TV (4%) and radio (0%)
are virtually ignored as news sources, along with general news websites (8%),
whereas IT security-specific sites (59%) and IT sites (58%) lead the way as
most popular news sources among IT security professionals, closely followed
by IT security magazines (40%).
News environment and news consumption practices are changing rapidly, and the
decline in newsprint has been deliberated over for many years. In fact, in line
with this, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures released in July this
year, highlighting that all of the UK’s leading newspapers suffered a third
consecutive month of print circulation decline.
Cybersecurity vendors have plenty of choice and opportunity to raise their
profile via the media. While traditional media such as online websites and
magazine, will remain popular for media consumption within the IT security
community, other sources may be gaining traction among more tech-savvy IT
security buyers. When asked where they will source their cyber security content
in five years’ time, there was a notable increase in the numbers claiming they
would use Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and social media in the future for
general opinion, general news and discussion on IT Security.
Companies should take heed and put plans in place to support a future in which
media is consumed differently. Leading research and advisory company, Gartner,
estimates that there will be more than 20 billion connected devices globally by
2020. IoT is a massively growing trend helping digitally transform businesses
worldwide with the emergence of more and more connected devices. The media is
no exception and automated media delivery based on detailed profiles developed
through harvested device data is already being utilized and should be
considered in any future PR strategy.
Blogs are also expected to rise in five years’ time as a key source of
information. Eleven percent more IT security decision makers suggested they
will be reading blogs for thought leadership and for general news, whilst 14%
more will be utilizing blogs for tech support information. This shift comes as
increasingly savvy companies are turning to blogs to complement their
communications arsenal.
Mistrust similarly seems to play a significant role in IT security
professionals’ decision on where to go for relevant news and information.
Despite findings in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report that levels of trust in news have
remained relatively stable over the past year, mistrust in media is widespread,
and trustworthy sources and current articles are key. The good news for trade
titles is that they once again come top of the pile in trustworthiness, led by
IT websites (63%) and IT security-specific sites (60%). IT security leaders
trust IT and IT security-specific publications above nationals and broadcast
media, not just for news, but a range of article types from thought leadership
pieces, to general opinion, and investigative pieces. In addition,
Investigative journalism ranked as the most appealing (68%) among
respondents, suggesting that there is a certain level of trust garnered through
meticulously researched news pieces.
Paula Averley, Founder and Director Origin Comms commented – “In an industry
founded on security and trust, it’s unsurprising that IT security professionals
adopt a similar attitude when it comes to sourcing news and information they
can depend on. The purpose of the research was to establish where, how and why
they are consuming their media, in order to determine how IT security and
marketing professionals need to think about the way they are delivering
content, and where to.”
To download the full report ‘How to Reach Information Security Professionals
Based on Media Consumption Behaviour’, please visit http://www.origincomms.com/research.php
