Many Security Operations Centers Are Falling Short

Many Security Operations Centers Are Falling Short

Many Security Operation Centers Are Falling Short

Security Operations Centers are not mature, so companies are shifting to outsourcing, managed security services and automation to cope with talent shortages.

Security Operations Lack Maturity

Over the past 5 years, 27% of cyber-defense organizations didn’t score even a Level 1 security operations maturity model (SOMM), which means they didn’t meet minimal requirements to provide security. (Level 5 is the top level.)

SOMM Scores Fall Short

The median SOMM score of the organizations in the study was 1.36. The recommended score is a 3.

Service Organizations Improving the Most

Looking at median scores by industry verticals, services organizations have had the highest SOMM scores over the past 5 years.

Rapid Leadership Turnover

During the past 8 years, security leadership has been turning over an average of every 18 months.

Meeting Business Goals and Maturity Levels

Over the past 5 years, only 18% of the assessed organizations have been meeting business goals and working toward achieving—or have achieved—the recommended maturity level.

Business SOMM Tops Other Categories

Of the four assessed categories—Business, People, Process and Technology—the Business category scored a median 1.52, which was the highest maturity level achieved.

Services Score Better Than Telecom

In the industry verticals, the services industry maintained the highest median SOMM score of 1.76, while telecom scored the lowest at 0.97.

South America Had Best Regional Score

With a median score of 1.89, South America scored the highest median SOMM score of assessed regions for the second year in a row.

Health Care SOMM Rising

Health care continues to increase its median industry maturity score, with a 1.66 this year over last year’s 1.58 score.

Energy Industry Maturing Rapidly

The energy industry showed great maturity growth this year, increasing its median score from 1.54 in the 2016 report to 1.64 in the 2017 report.