The latest report from Accenture, a professional services firm, shows that organizations that align their cybersecurity programs to business objectives are 18% more likely to achieve target revenue growth.

Accenture calls these organizations “cyber transformers,” the ones that count cybersecurity as among the priorities in their business transformation initiatives.

“While organizations are taking steps to better align cybersecurity programs with business goals, there is still plenty of room for improvement, with more than 60% of respondents still falling victim to successful breaches coming from outside their organizations,” Jacky Fox, Accenture Security lead for Europe, said in a statement.

55% of respondents unable to defend organizations vs cyberattacks — Accenture
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Accenture’s “State of Cybersecurity Resilience 2023” report is based on a survey of 3,000 security and business executives from large organizations across Europe, North America, South America and Asia-Pacific.

Using automation for cybersecurity programs

The report found that these organizations have embedded cyber risk-based framework into their enterprise risk management program enabling them to be more proactive in their approach to cybersecurity.

Cyber transformers are more likely than others to use managed services providers to administer cybersecurity operations (40% vs 24%). With automation becoming the norm, these organizations rely heavily on the technology for their cybersecurity programs (89% vs 57%). In addition, 96% of all respondents whose organizations substantially automate their cybersecurity said that automation helps alleviate cyber talent shortages — a key challenge for any company seeking cyber resilience.

“In this rapidly changing environment, business leaders need to embed cybersecurity into the fabric of their digital core transformation efforts to become business resilient,” said Palo Dal Cin, global lead of Accenture Security. “This is one of the key differentiating traits of cyber transformers, who demonstrate that they are better equipped to drive successful business outcomes.”