Less than 5 per cent of companies in India are ready to deal with cybersecurity risks even though an overwhelming number of them said their businesses are likely to be impacted by such threats in the next 12-24 months, according to a study.

The 2024 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index, which was released on Thursday, found that only 4 per cent of companies in India are ready to tackle today’s threats, with 59 per cent of organisations falling into the “beginner or formative stages of readiness”.

Globally, 3 per cent of companies are at a “mature stage”, meaning they are prepared to handle cybersecurity risks, it said.

Cisco said while companies are building defences against these attacks, they are slowed down by their own overly complex security postures that are dominated by multiple-point solutions.

The study is based on a survey of 8,136 private sector business leaders — over 1,000 of them from India — who have cybersecurity responsibilities in their organisations.

The study revealed that 82 per cent of the participants surveyed expect a cybersecurity incident to disrupt their business in the next 12-24 months.

“The cost of being unprepared can be substantial, as 74 per cent of respondents said they experienced a cybersecurity incident in the last 12 months, and 55 per cent of those affected said it cost them at least USD 300,000,” it said.

It further said the traditional approach of adopting multiple cybersecurity point solutions has not delivered effective results, as 88 per cent of respondents admitted that having multiple point solutions slowed down their team’s ability to detect, respond, and recover from incidents. While companies are aware of cybersecurity risks, talent gap further intensifies the issue, it said.

“Progress is being further hampered by critical talent shortages, with 91 per cent of companies highlighting it as an issue. In fact, 59 per cent of companies said they had more than 10 roles related to cybersecurity unfilled in their organisation at the time of the survey,” the study noted.

However, businesses are increasing their investments to tackle the issue with 71 per cent planning to significantly upgrade their IT infrastructure in the next 12-24 months, the study added.