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IT Security Professionals Would Spend an Average of Almost One Hour Researching News of a Data Breach
November 2018 by Origin Comms
Origin Comms announced findings from new research into the media consumption trends of IT security professionals. The research highlighted that IT security professionals spend an average of only seven minutes reading an article at any one time, yet admitted to spending nearly an hour (58 mins) on average researching a breach when they hear about it.
There are vast opportunities for organisations prepared to comment on data breaches. Effective rapid response to data breach news can help position company executives as authorities on the topic by providing accurate, actionable and audience-specific insight. This can be followed by marketing activity with website links to advisory papers or additional articles on the topic.
The findings of the Origin research also reinforce the decline in legacy media and illustrate how habits in media consumption and news engagement are heavily stratified by the IT Security sector. Newspapers (5%), TV (4%) and radio (0%) are virtually ignored as news sources, along with general news websites (8%), whereas IT security-specific sites (59%) and IT sites (58%) lead the way as most popular news sources amongst IT security professionals, closely followed by IT security magazines (40%).
News environment and news consumption practices are changing rapidly, and the decline in newsprint has been deliberated over for many years. In fact, in line with this, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures released in July this year, highlighting that all of the UK’s leading newspapers suffered a third consecutive month of print circulation decline.
Cybersecurity vendors have plenty of choice and opportunity to raise their profile via the media. While traditional media such as online websites and magazines, will remain popular for media consumption within the IT security community, other sources may be gaining traction among more tech-savvy IT security buyers. When asked where they will source their cyber security content in five years’ time, there was a notable increase in the numbers claiming they would use Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and social media in the future for general opinion, general news and discussion on IT Security.
Companies should take heed and put plans in place to support a future in which media is consumed differently. Leading research and advisory company, Gartner, estimates that there will be more than 20 billion connected devices globally by 2020. IoT is a massively growing trend helping digitally transform businesses worldwide with the emergence of more and more connected devices. The media is no exception and automated media delivery based on detailed pro?les developed through harvested device data is already being utilised and should be considered in any future PR strategy.
Blogs are also expected to rise in five years’ time as a key source of information. Eleven percent more IT security decision makers suggested they will be reading blogs for thought leadership and for general news, whilst 14% more will be utilising blogs for tech support information. This shift comes as increasingly savvy companies are turning to blogs to complement their communications arsenal.
Mistrust similarly seems to play a significant role in IT security professionals decision on where to go for relevant news and information. Despite findings in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report that levels of trust in news have remained relatively stable over the past year, mistrust in media is widespread, and trustworthy sources and current articles are key.
The good news for trade titles is that they once again come top of the pile in trustworthiness, led by IT websites (63%) and IT security-specific sites (60%). IT security leaders trust IT and IT security-specific publications above nationals and broadcast media, not just for news, but a range of article types from thought leadership pieces, to general opinion, and investigative pieces. In addition, investigative journalism ranked as the most appealing (68%) amongst respondents, suggesting that there is a certain level of trust garnered through meticulously researched news pieces.
Paula Averley, Founder and Director Origin Comms, commented – “In an industry founded on security and trust, it’s unsurprising that IT security professionals adopt a similar attitude when it comes to sourcing news and information they can depend on. The purpose of the research was to establish where, how and why they are consuming their media, in order to determine how IT security and marketing professionals need to think about the way they are delivering content, and where to.”
