Cobalt's 5th Annual State of Pentesting Report Uncovers Implications for Enterprise Security, Teams Threaten to Quit From Burnout
Cobalt extends access to its award-winning Pentest Management Platform, enabling resource-constrained security teams to increase testing and reporting efficiencies to minimize risk
SAN FRANCISCO, April 12, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Cobalt, the Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) company that is modernizing the manual pentesting model, today announced its fifth annual State of Pentesting Report. This year's report highlights the impact of talent shortages and budget cuts on security teams' performance and plans for 2023. With cybersecurity teams struggling to manage the remediation process and monitor for vulnerabilities, organizations are at a higher risk for security breaches.
As enterprises prioritize efficiencies, security leaders increasingly turn to third-party vendors to alleviate the pressures of consistent testing and to fill in talent gaps. The State of Pentesting Report identifies how macroeconomic shifts are affecting organizations' security standards across the U.S. and EMEA, revealing how security teams can extract more value from their pentests and maximize ROI. After analyzing more than 3,000 pentests and surveying more than 1,000 cybersecurity professionals, Cobalt found:
Budget cuts and layoffs plague security teams: More than half (63%) of U.S. cybersecurity professionals had their department's budget cut in 2023, compared to only 28% of their EMEA counterparts. To further align with tight budgets, both U.S. (67%) and EMEA (61%) organizations have implemented a recruitment slowdown for this year.
Cybersecurity burnout could push workers to quit: Of those who encountered layoffs or budget cuts, almost all U.S. (95%) and EMEA (84%) professionals say their role has changed. This has caused many in the U.S. to feel burnt out (61%), more than those in EMEA (29%). Burnout is increasing among professionals, and half (50%) of U.S. respondents threaten to quit their jobs if these feelings go unaddressed. Only 20% of EMEA respondents said the same.
Key vulnerabilities are left unchecked: To stay afloat, a whopping 79% of U.S. cybersecurity professionals admit to deprioritizing responsibilities, compared to 66% of their EMEA counterparts, leading to a backlog of unaddressed vulnerabilities. It's no surprise 73% of U.S. respondents admit they struggle to monitor and respond to vulnerabilities compared to EMEA where 58% report the same issue.
Inaccurate security configurations cause vulnerabilities: Nearly half (40%) of U.S. respondents found the most security vulnerabilities were related to Server Security Misconfigurations. Other vulnerabilities spanned across Cross-Site Scripting (12%), Sensitive Data Exposure (10%), Broken Access Control (10%) and Authentication & Sessions (9%).
Enterprises are calling in backup: With 89% of U.S. and 83% of EMEA teams reporting that it's harder to manage their workloads, it's time to call in backup. Creating partnerships with agile vendors can help teams conquer backlogs and deter employee burnout. In fact, outsourcing cybersecurity tasks to third-party vendors is more common in the U.S. (74%) than EMEA (48%).
"Cobalt is committed to helping security teams effectively manage their daily operations and efficiently run pentests in an evolving threat landscape," said Eric Brinkman, Chief Product Officer of Cobalt. "Through our research and by listening to our enterprise customers, we know they continue to struggle with shifting demands. Our expanded suite of offerings equips leaders with deeper insights into reporting, spotlights common vulnerabilities as well as solutions to support their teams."
We know penetration testing is a critical component of enterprise security, and have seen security teams forced to juggle a myriad of data and tools, resulting in inconsistent processes and results. Before organizations look to scale their offensive security, they must address these inefficiencies. As such, Cobalt is releasing a Pentest Management Platform to increase the efficiency and quality of pentesting programs.
Used by more than 400 pentesters worldwide, Cobalt's Pentest Management Platform enables in-house security teams, MSPs, or outsourced security teams to cover the entire lifecycle of a pentest from planning, launching, and collaborating on tests to writing reports, tracking vulnerabilities, and remediation efforts. Currently available for Cobalt customers, this purpose-built offering enables security teams to:
- Visualize end-to-end pentest programs in a single platform
- Reduce administrative work for faster turnaround times and remediation efforts
- Integrate findings into SDLC via Jira and GitHub, or using Cobalt's API
- Standardize reporting with customizable and automated templates
- Track program improvements by leveraging ongoing test data and analytics
"The Pentest Management Platform has given us the ability to more seamlessly leverage the skills of our security engineers. The ease in communication and contextual understanding of past tests has allowed us to better work together and maximize our return on security investment," said Matt Szymanski, Sr. Manager of Application and Product Security at Yext. "I am excited to continue using the product and see how it can further enhance our security testing efforts."
If you're not a Cobalt customer or partner but are interested in learning more, check out our Early Access Program.
Cobalt also recently announced the hire of Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Matherly to support business growth and expansion. If you're interested in learning more about Cobalt's 2023 State of Pentesting Report findings, click here. Cobalt will also be attending the RSA Conference April 24 - 27 in San Francisco. Stop by Booth #6553 (North Expo) to visit our #RSAConfessYourStress wall. For every confession we'll be donating $5 to Project Healthy Minds working to reduce the stigma around mental health care and provide resources for all.
About Cobalt
Cobalt infuses manual pentesting with speed, simplicity, and transparency. Our award-winning Pentest as a Service (PtaaS) model empowers organizations to keep pace with modern software development lifecycles in an agile world. Thousands of customers and hundreds of partners rely on Cobalt's SaaS platform and closed community of more than 400 testers. We deliver pentests that support business drivers, maximize internal resources, and create stronger security programs so that organizations can maintain their competitive edge and velocity of innovation.
Media Contact
Fabiola Camacho, Cobalt, (708) 566 - 7166, [email protected]
SOURCE Cobalt
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