Nichols Martin
ThreatSwitch revealed in a study that almost 50 percent of companies in the defense industrial base expect to boost their security budgets this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic's operational impact and new cybersecurity requirements imposed by the Department of Defense.
The company said Thursday the “2021 Industrial Security Benchmark Study" resulted from its survey of industrial security professionals with knowledge on their respective companies' compliance program priorities and most significant security threats in 2021.
Cybersecurity was cited as the biggest threat, driven by phishing and social engineering activities. Respondents also identified remote employee security practices as the second top threat due to the vulnerability of the workforce operating remotely to cyber-related risks.
Another driver of the expected budget boost is DOD's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, an effort launched in 2020 to bolster the security of controlled unclassified information in the defense industrial base.
The program will require companies to undergo third-party assessments and almost three-fourths of respondents said they are putting more effort into CMMC compliance this year. DOD has advised companies to first perform self-assessments while certified accreditors are still getting ready.
“As evident in our survey findings, industrial security leaders expect increased budgets for 2021 and are allocating the resources necessary to address these new challenges," said John Dillard, CEO of ThreatSwitch.
