Other key findings included the following:

More than half (53%) of organizations now carry out security operations with a full in-house security operation center, up 10% over 2017. Grade "A" respondents overwhelmingly rely on in-house SOC to keep their grades high, with 78% reporting on their implementation.
Automation plays an increasingly important role in securing organizations, with 88% strongly agreeing or agreeing automation improved their staff's technical skills and general knowledge of cybersecurity. Twenty-two percent of organizations have a high level of automation compared to 45% of Grade "A" organizations, demonstrating the impact automation has on higher ratings of security posture.
Organizations showed a greater emphasis on proactive threat hunting with 61% of organizations utilizing a threat intelligence platform, up 20% since the 2018 report. Three quarters of Grade "A" organizations relied on threat intelligence platforms.
Seventy-six percent of organizations and 90% of Grade "A" organizations investigated forensic clues from phishing emails, such as domain name, IP address or email addresses. Another 86% of Grade "A" organizations logged domain name system traffic for later forensic review.
Thanks to year-over-year increases in the use of automation, in-house SOC and threat intelligence platforms, analysts detected and responded to threats faster. Slightly over half (51%) of organizations with an "A" grade can detect active or suspected cyberattacks several times throughout the day.

"Cyberthreats remain relentless and continue to evolve in complexity, so it is reassuring to see that the confidence of security teams in their security posture is growing in parallel with their success in defending against the latest attacks. It is also exciting to see the results of investments in automation and in-house [security operations centers] paying off as the key components of driving this progress forward," Tarik Saleh, senior security engineer and malware researcher for DomainTools, said. "Unfortunately, security teams report they are more short-staffed than ever, with the need for more staff as the number one hurdle to achieving an 'A' grade in 2019, overtaking budget issues from previous years."

Instant Insights /

Cybersecurity Grades Rise as Breaches Decline, Confidence in Protection Grows

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