Why the EU Is More Likely to Drive IT and Security Trends Than the US
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been a game changer for data privacy, and U.S. companies are beginning to catch up to the EU in data management practices. However, privacy is only one area in which U.S. organizations are falling behind their European counterparts. To promote compliance with data privacy regulations, both current and forthcoming, U.S. companies will have to invest a lot more in advancing security programs.
The largest companies tend to drive technology and security trends. However, Europe is pushing the envelope at a greater rate than American companies.
It likely comes down to GDPR. According to Spiceworks, regulatory changes surrounding data privacy — including huge fines surrounding a data breach — have led to a greater emphasis on security enhancements like encryption. This has also likely been the catalyst for EU to adopt security technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
Still, Spiceworks found that most companies on either continent turn to relatively inexpensive solutions to implement security — antivirus and security awareness training are the two most popular — as opposed to more aggressive defense strategies such as honeypots. More regulated industries are also more likely to adopt emerging security tools, which could explain why a region under the broadest data protection mandate is so far ahead.
Spiceworks found that American companies tend to prefer security awareness as their primary solution for cybersecurity, as opposed to the EU, which favors technology-based tools. However, according to a study by MediaPro, 85 percent of employees who work in the financial industry, where a data breach can be particularly damaging, fail at basic security tasks such as recognizing personal data. Financial employees were also unable to tell the difference between a phishing scam and legitimate email, and the majority of employees do not alert IT or security staff when they do see a problem.
Relying on security awareness training as the primary security tool is risky. At the same time, even technological tools that improve workplace efficiency expand the organization’s digital attack surface.
Spiceworks looked at the state of IT budgets, which are either staying the same or increasing across both American and European businesses. Primary spending drivers include replacing old tech and preparing for the end of Windows 7 support, which will happen in 2020, according to the survey.
Although security-specific spending is projected to increase in the coming year, according to the report, updating aging infrastructure is also a direct response to ransomware campaigns such as last year’s WannaCry attack and to promote compliance with data privacy regulations such as GDPR.
The size of the organization also plays a role in how it budgets.
