Why Tech Fragmentation is UK firms’ Biggest Cyber Challenge

The pace of technological transformation does incredible things for businesses. 

Increased efficiency and productivity, enhanced customer experiences, data-driven decision making and greater innovation all come from the rapid adoption of innovative technologies. 

However, that same pace leads to some inevitable challenges. Complexity from the number of technologies being brought into the enterprise environment, coupled with a lack of interoperability between digital solutions is increasing the prospect of technology fragmentation. 

The term, which refers to the development and proliferation of incompatible technologies, platforms and standards decreases system efficiency, impacts companies’ wallets and hinders growth. 

According to new research from Palo Alto Networks, it’s also emerging as a major security issue, with 64% of UK organisations citing it as a key hurdle in developing a strong security posture. 

Fragmentation making organisations vulnerable

The research, conducted by Vitreous World for Palo Alto, features responses from over 450 c-level executives and senior management security professionals from the UK, France, Germany and Spain. 

It explores their views on the impact of technology fragmentation, particularly with regards to the consolidation and interoperability of technologies, and the challenges this presents to enterprise operations. 

It also considers the impact of increasingly rapid AI adoption by organisations. 

The percentage of UK organisations citing technology fragmentation surpasses the average of European organisations surveyed (55%). This revealed an urgent need for streamlining security systems in order to tackle the evolving threat landscape.

“Technology fragmentation continues to leave organisations vulnerable to security breaches. With the proliferation of solutions, the task at hand is to simplify and integrate tools to ensure they are interoperable and working within a connected ecosystem,” says Scott McKinnon, Chief Security Officer UK & Ireland at the cybersecurity firm.

 “This has become all the more crucial in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks, with AI creating a powerful toolbox for cybercriminals that’s more readily available.”

Impacting cybersecurity strategies

Cybersecurity postures are hindered as a result of technology fragmentation, with Palo Alto finding that 50% of UK respondents say it limits how they deal with cyber threats. 

The challenges extend beyond security posture alone. From an operational perspective, organisations face increased cost inefficiencies including resign training costs (48%) and procurement expenses (44%). 

In the same vein, 48% of UK respondents say that fragmentation has increased workloads for security professionals and 39% say it contributes to rising staff attrition levels - a particular challenge in security, where skills and staff shortages continue to dog the sector.

Unsurprisingly, 92% of UK organisations cite simplification and integration of tech stacks as a priority for the coming year. 

Specifically for security, this means a key focus (90% of UK organisations) on a platform-based approach to security – presently, only 41% have either fully consolidated or mostly consolidated their cyber solutions on security platforms, indication a major disconnect between the intentions and actions towards cyber protection.

AI adoption increasing risk

Across European organisations, AI-based threats ranked as the biggest cyber risk, cited by 66% of all respondents and 62% in the UK. Only data privacy and regulatory compliance ranked higher in the UK (both at 68%). 

Despite the threats posed by AI, Palo Alto’s research also identifies the growing importance of using the technology as part of an organisation’s security posture. 

In the UK, 91% of respondents say they trust the security of AI applications used in their business, with 82% noting their confidence in using the technology to its full potential. More than half (61%) say that the biggest use case for AI in security applications is for enhanced threat detection.

Elsewhere beyond technology complexity, the research identifies several other security concerns among business leaders. These include managing excessive security vendors and tools to develop a robust security framework. 

In light of its findings, Palo Alto recommends integrating security systems into a single system. 

Businesses can defend against the challenges of technology fragmentation and complexity, it says, by unifying defences and actively leveraging AI within security postures. This will be particularly useful against the growing number of threats that are AI-driven.

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