With damages related to cyber crime set to hit $6 trillion by 2021, organisations need to find new solutions to stay that crucial one step ahead of the hackers.

We don’t need the cautionary narratives of Black Mirror anymore. The reality is that technology developments, from cloud transformation to faster internet speeds, are a double-edged sword.

Whilst they are positive for businesses and make their operations seamless, they also enable cyber criminals to develop more sophisticated attacks methods.

Digital transformation and the Internet of Things has created a vast range of avenues for hackers to exploit and they just need to find one flawed device to get into the company and access its sensitive data.

For too long the balance has been tipped in favour of a motivated and resourceful attacker who can launch a limitless variation of attacks. As fast as a business deploys a new security measure, there is a hacker looking to find a loophole.

To add to this struggle, the ever-growing number of security products is serving to make the lives of cyber security professionals more complicated, and in more ways than one.

Security teams are alerted to such a vast range of threats, many of which turn out not to be genuine, and are therefore overwhelmed by alerts and unsure which ones are worthy of investigating.

As a result, hackers and security teams are locked in a never ending game of cat and mouse and regrettably the cyber security industry has lapsed into the position of the latter.

Automation is the Answer

Unfortunately, there is only so much that overworked security teams can do and the pressure on them continues to grow, exacerbated by the huge skills deficit which the cyber security industry is facing.

A survey conducted by the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) found that 74 percent of organisations worldwide are affected by a shortage of cyber security skills.

They don’t have the resources to cope with a rapidly shifting cyber landscape. Autonomous solutions that proactively defend against cyber attacks are necessary in order to level the playing field.

Self-governing technology could take the brunt of the crippling workload that understaffed security teams currently face and free them up to focus on other important aspects of their role.

As businesses’ digital estates become more and more complex, security is going to be as much about simplification and control as it is about sophistication.

Cyber security professionals need to be offered the opportunity to take a step back from the chaos of dealing with alerts in order to focus on longer term strategy.

Furthermore, it is important to remember that everybody is human, and round-the-clock protection would allow them the chance to switch off. Rather than papering over the cracks with more security products, autonomous technology could turn this into a reality by intervening and preventing attacks before they can occur.

According to our research, the cyber security community is already converted to the benefits of autonomous technology, with 86 percent indicating that their organisation would benefit from it.

The technology has now advanced beyond the initial teething phase to the point where it is now intelligent enough to deal effectively with front-line corporate security.

Crucially, 78 percent said that they’d trust an autonomous solution. CISOs and their teams now have a high degree of confidence in the technology to make designations on good and bad data.

Adapt and thrive 

In order to make a business successful in the long term, an ability to adapt is essential.

It is well past the time for deliberation over whether cyber security should be a major concern to your business. The digitisation of the modern workplace means that it should be a crucial aspect of a company’s infrastructure.

Yet, there clearly remains a hesitancy at the top level of organisations to invest adequately in an agile and robust security strategy.

Many SMEs argue that they simply do not have the resources to implement the technology but when the expense is weighed against the potential cost of a calculated and targeted attack, it pales in comparison. This is before you even consider the impact of cyber security burnout on your enterprise.

Business leaders must acknowledge that, in order to retain increasingly valuable cyber security professionals at all levels, they need to invest in a culture of support for security.

The onus is now very much on executive teams across all sectors to give their IT people what they want. A failure to implement the right technology could be fatal to a business, particularly in the current climate. The hackers won’t walk away but your overworked and underappreciated security teams might.

Richard Walters, CTO of Censornet.