44% of 100 public sector IT decision-makers judged their cybersecurity tools only moderately effective at safeguarding sensitive data. 58% described technology environments as 'extremely' or 'very' complex, with health and education at 70% complexity versus 45% for regional and central governments. Cloud and hybrid IT integration creates risks including misconfigurations, visibility gaps, and compliance failures. Financial limitations were cited by 23% as the top barrier to strengthening cybersecurity. Human factors were flagged by 56% as the biggest security threat, with lack of training, poor cross-team collaboration, and weak top-level leadership and standards also hindering protection. 51% view observability as important, and 67% identify security and privacy concerns as significant barriers.
Almost half of UK public sector IT leaders say their cybersecurity tools fall short, thanks mainly to system complexity and budgetary constraints. A of 100 public sector IT decision-makers from SolarWinds found that 44% reckoned their cybersecurity tools are only moderately effective at safeguarding sensitive data. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) described their technology environments as 'extremely' or 'very' complex, with health and education sector respondents having the highest levels of IT complexity (70%) compared with just 45% for regional and central governments.
The problem lies in the increasing integration of cloud and hybrid IT infrastructures, the study noted. These environments are often vulnerable to risks such as misconfigurations, visibility gaps, and compliance failures. Perhaps unsurprisingly, financial limitations were the biggest issue flagged by respondents, cited by 23% as the top barrier to strengthening cybersecurity. However, human factors were also a big concern, with 56% citing careless or untrained insiders as the biggest security threat.
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