Optimism is good. But being overconfident about your ability to counter cyber attacks is dangerous. And that's what many security professionals are doing according to new research by SC Magazine. Eighty percent of survey respondents believe the chances of being breached are 50-50 or less. But the Ponemon Institute 2015 Cost of Cyber Crime Study finds the average company actually experiences 1.9 successful cyber attacks per week.

The disconnect seems to spring from respondents' confidence that they can block known attacks coupled with concern about new and unknown hacker threats. Read this report to learn:

• Respondents' highest cyber defense priorities
• How they view their ability to respond to breaches
• The five top action items for security professionals

In this UBM report, we will examine the overall security trends that are driving the need for change, as well as plans and strategies around application security, network security, and data security.

Last year, organizations worldwide spent more per security breach than they did the previous year. The cost to detect, respond to, and mitigate a breach was around $7.7 million—1.9% higher than in 2014. For US companies, those costs were much higher, at around $15 million on an annualized basis.

Read this report today. You’ll be surprised to learn:

• Who causes the costliest crimes
• How “threat actors” gather information prior to their attacks
• What the biggest security concerns are world-wide
• Why web applications are so vulnerable to attack, and the most common problems

Hacker attacks are increasing, and the cost to businesses is growing. Experts tell us it's not if you'll be breached, it's when. So the effectiveness of your security operations determines how much damage you'll suffer. Since 2008, Hewett Packard Enterprise Security has performed 154 assessments of the maturity of security operations in 114 security operations centers (SOCs).

The 2016 report is both disturbing and encouraging. There has been a year-to-year decline in overall security operation maturity. But there is also encouraging news—many SOCs are adopting innovative techniques that leverage the power of data and analytics to stay ahead of the threat. Read the report to learn the findings and understand the trends in security operations.