While most IT and security operations (SecOps) decision makers believe they should jointly share responsibility for their organization’s data security strategy, many of these teams are not collaborating as effectively as possible to address growing cyber threats.

This is one of the conclusions of a new report from a data management company Cohesion which also shows that among respondents who believe there is little collaboration between IT and security, almost half believe that their organization is therefore more exposed to cyber threats.

Based on a survey of more than 2,000 IT decision makers and SecOps professionals in the US, UK and Australia, the report shows that 43% of respondents say the collaboration between the two groups has remained the even in light of the increase in cyberattacks. But eight percent of all respondents say collaboration has actually declined, with IT decision makers more likely to share this view.

Additionally, 75% of respondents (69% of IT decision makers and 82% of SecOps) believe the skills shortage is having an impact.

“This research highlights that there is often a lack of collaboration between IT and security teams that we see in many organizations today. This communication gap must be bridged if organizations are to win the battle against cyber threats and ransomware,” said Brian Spanswick, chief information and security officer at Cohesity. “For too long, many security teams have focused primarily on preventing cyberattacks, while IT teams have focused on data protection, including backup and recovery. A comprehensive data security strategy must bring these two worlds together, but in many cases they remain separate and this lack of collaboration gives cybercriminals the leeway they need to often carry out successful attacks and leave businesses at the mercy of bad actors.”

There is even more disparity when it comes to backups. While 51% of IT decision makers say this is a top priority and essential capability, only 36% of SecOps respondents say the same.

When asked what would give their organization greater confidence in the ability to quickly recover business systems in the event of a ransomware attack, 44% of all respondents (45% of IT decision makers and 43 % of SecOps respondents) said better communication and collaboration between IT and security is key. 83% of all respondents agree that if security and IT worked more closely together, their organization would be better prepared to recover from cyber threats.

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