Fortinet survey has revealed that Indian IT managers and CIOs tend to give up or delay business initiatives because of security issues.
While enterprises continue to be concerned about evolving security threats, IT security is turning into a bottle neck for IT decision makers (ITDMs) all around the world. 79 per cent of Indian ITDMs admit that security concerns have stopped or delayed them from implementing new business initiatives and innovations.
The problem persists globally, albeit at a lower magnitude (about 53 per cent of ITDMs worldwide confessed that they have abandoned or delayed projects due to the same reason) as compared to Indian ITDMs.
IT security, which has been the primary concern for sectors such as the BFSI and telcos has in recent years spilled over to retail as well.
The research was commissioned by Fortinet on 1600 enterprise ITDMs including 100 from India.
Security - now a boardroom issue
The findings suggest that IT security is now a boardroom issue as it affects most departments and not just IT.
"Mobility, complexity of threat and pressure from senior executives are the biggest challenges that Indian ITDMs face today," notes Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet.
According to the survey, the biggest security threats that worries Indian ITDMs are data privacy regulations from the government and international agencies', along with emerging technologies like Internet of Things. 69 per cent of the Indian ITDMs surveyed feel that these two issues keep them on their toes.
India stands ahead in Biometrics
One of the security measures that has increasingly been gaining popularity is biometric access control. It is interesting to note that India is comparatively better prepared than the rest of the world in making use of biometric technologies. 90 per cent of Indian ITDMs claim they are equipped with the right tools and are robust enough to take advantage of biometric data innovations.
When it comes to implementations, findings show that only 16 per cent of global ITDMs have deployed the required biometric technologies, while over 21 per cent of Indian ITDMs have already implemented it at their enterprise. As a result, 55 per cent of Indian ITDMS feel they have securely safeguarded their enterprise, but only 34 per cent of global ITDMs feel the same.
"The biggest concern in biometrics lies in choosing a relevant technology among retina, finger print, voice/ facial recognition or others as each enterprise had different needs," say Fortinet experts.
Rising security spend
Over 50 per cent of Indian ITDMs have voiced concern that big data and data analytics is causing them to invest more money or resources in IT security and more than 90 per cent of Indian ITDMs revealed they have increased their budgets in IT security spend.
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