Local Organizations Battled a Record Number of Breaches Last Year, Causing Stress on IT Teams
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — April 23, 2024 — ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation and a leading provider of enterprise IT management solutions, today announced the findings of its recent survey mapping the current cybersecurity scenario in Latin America.
ManageEngine's report, The State of Cybersecurity in LATAM 2024, surveyed cybersecurity professionals and decision makers from companies in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. The results provide a regional perspective on cybersecurity, the use of AI in cyberattacks, and investment in the sector and the job market; it also highlights how Brazil positions itself on these topics compared to other countries.
According to the research, 54% of national companies faced more cybersecurity breaches in 2023 compared to previous years. The rising number of security issues has significantly contributed to more stress for Brazilian IT teams, with 66% of respondents (the highest among the countries surveyed) saying their stress level has increased.
The survey also addressed the role of AI in recent attacks. Around 55% of Brazilian respondents noted GenAI was exploited for cyberattacks in 2023, a percentage slightly above the average for other countries (51%). However, the majority of respondents in Brazil (97%) believe that AI will be fundamental in defending against cyberattacks in 2024, highlighting the potential for dependence on AI in security solutions moving forward.
Around 90% of the respondents trust AI-enabled cybersecurity solutions to make appropriate changes to their security defenses. Furthermore, more than one in three companies (38%) in the country uses AI in all their cybersecurity solutions, the highest percentage among other countries surveyed.
According to Tonimar Dal Aba, technical manager at ManageEngine, Brazilian companies are increasingly aware of the challenge in securing work environments: “Our research highlights the evolving cybersecurity landscape in Brazil, with companies facing increased risks but also demonstrating a commitment to improving their posture through training and adoption of advanced technologies like AI. As threats continue to evolve, Brazilian companies feel more prepared to leverage innovative solutions to protect their digital assets and mitigate risks effectively.”
Despite advances in cybersecurity awareness and training, Brazilian companies still face challenges in achieving full compliance with local and international data protection regulations. While 81% of respondents stated that their companies were fully compliant, a significant portion (14%) expressed their intention to achieve full compliance by the end of 2024, demonstrating that many companies still have a long way to go. For them, the challenges are meeting the specific compliance requirements of their business sector (41%), ensuring adequate control when sharing data with partners (38%) and addressing the difficulties of building a compliance report (34%).
Kishore Kumar, country manager for ManageEngine in Brazil, comments that the challenges faced by Brazilian companies in relation to data protection regulations are evident. "Although a substantial portion of the respondents stated that their companies are in compliance, the portion that seeks to achieve full compliance by the end of 2024 indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done. It is essential for companies with expertise to provide comprehensive and personalized solutions that help companies achieve a higher level of cybersecurity and regulatory compliance," he concludes.
Visit ManageEngine's website to access The State of Cybersecurity in LATAM 2024 study report at https://mnge.it/JhS
The survey, commissioned by ManageEngine and conducted by Dimensional Research, covered four countries in Latin America: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. The study surveyed 705 cybersecurity professionals and IT leaders working in organizations ranging from small businesses to large enterprises. Its objective was to investigate the main cybersecurity challenges faced by companies and explore how artificial intelligence impacts their efforts to detect and prevent cyberattacks. Other survey topics included the training of teams responsible for cybersecurity and the resilience of companies when confronting attacks. The survey was conducted through an online panel in January 2024.
ManageEngine is a division of Zoho Corporation that offers comprehensive on-premises and cloud-native IT and security operations management solutions for global organizations and managed service providers. Established and emerging enterprises—including nine of every 10 Fortune 100 organizations—rely on ManageEngine's real-time IT management tools to ensure the optimal performance of their IT infrastructure, including networks, servers, applications, endpoints and more. ManageEngine has 18 data centers, 20 offices and 200+ channel partners worldwide to help organizations tightly align their business to IT. For more information, please visit the company site, follow the company blog and get connected on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).