According to a new Cisco report published on Tuesday, just 24 per cent of organisations polled in India have the mature level of preparedness required to be resilient against current cybersecurity threats.

Cisco stated in a separate statement that it intends to train 500,000 cybersecurity specialists in India over the course of three years.

Cisco's inaugural Cybersecurity Readiness Index highlighted areas where organisations are excelling and areas where cybersecurity preparation gaps will grow if global business and security leaders do not take action.

The Cisco survey found that 90% of respondents stated they anticipate a cybersecurity event disrupting their organisation over the next 12 to 24 months, underscoring the need for preparation.

India outperformed the global average of 15% in cybersecurity maturity (24%) and readiness. 38% of Indian firms are young.

A third-party research asked 6,700 private sector cybersecurity executives from 27 markets which solutions they had used and at what extent. After that, enterprises were categorised by readiness: beginner, formative, developing, and mature.

Novice (less than 10) means early solution deployment, whereas formative (11–44) means some deployment but poor cybersecurity preparation.

The index characterised progressive as having considerable deployment and above-average cybersecurity preparedness, while mature was defined as having advanced deployment stages and being best equipped to handle security risks.

Although achieving better than the world average, India has few organisations due to the risks.

Cisco says this preparation gap is troubling given that 90% of respondents expect a cybersecurity event to hit their organisation within 12 to 24 months.

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80 per cent of respondents reported a cybersecurity problem in the preceding 12 months, and 53 per cent claimed it cost them at least USD 500,000. Being unprepared may be costly (roughly Rs. 4 crores).

"Cybersecurity is a key worry as firms digitise. Hybrid work and application-driven services need organisations to close the security preparation gap." Cisco India and SAARC Security Business Group Director Samir Mishra says.

Business executives must achieve "readiness" across the five security pillars to build secure and resilient organisations. This is crucial as 95% of respondents want to increase security expenditure by at least 10% in the following year.

Developing a foundation allows organisations to capitalise on their strengths and focus on maturing and resiliency.

Identification, devices, network security, application workloads, and data are the basis.

Cisco pledged to train 500,000 Indians on cybersecurity over three years.

Cisco's Networking Academy's 10-year goal is to teach 25 million people digital skills. 25th anniversary of the flagship show.

This programme reached 17.5 million students in 190 countries. Since its India launch, Networking Academy has educated 1.2 million students through 718 partnerships with educational institutions and organisations.

The two announcements were made onstage during the Cisco India Summit (CIS) 2023 in Jaipur.

Cisco said India's growth and global competitiveness rely on a strong digital economy and a digitally skilled workforce.

Cisco predicts a rise in demand for competent cybersecurity workers as organisations fight a shifting and sophisticated threat landscape.