92% of global PCs ill-equipped for modern AI, warns Absolute Security

A research report by Absolute Security has disclosed that 92% of globally distributed PCs used by their customers do not meet the basic requirements needed to run modern AI applications effectively. The new research, named the Cyber Resilience Risk Index 2024, analysed telemetry from over 5 million PCs owned by more than 21,000 customers and catering to 14 million mobile and hybrid users globally.

The findings suggest that the majority of organisations may need to upgrade or replace their entire system to ensure readiness for the wave of AI, introducing further implications for their cyberspace security risk and resilience. As companies scramble to keep up with relevant security controls and patching, system disruptions could become more frequent, leading to an increased risk of cyberattacks and tampering. The educational and government sectors were identified as having the worst patching records, taking 119 days and 82 days, respectively.

The study also revealed that Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) and network access security applications fail to operate effectively 24% of the time if not supported by remediation capabilities. This extended to almost 14% of the devices where unsupported EPPs were missing, thereby opening up high-risk security gaps. Whilst this showed a trend of industries running behind in patching software vulnerabilities, Christy Wyatt, Absolute Security CEO, encouraged a focused approach to general resilience strategies that can improve vulnerability resistance and quick recovery rates.

"As an industry, we are intently focused on the inevitable attack coming, breach waiting to happen, and disruption around the next corner. Not enough attention is paid to the simple strategies that can dramatically increase your resilience to ensure you remain resistant to vulnerabilities and can recover quickly," said Wyatt. "The stakes continue to get higher as we face the urgent need to adopt AI and other innovations to remain competitive."

Building on the traditional cybersecurity framework, the concept of Cyber Resilience acts as a digital operations' backbone for any organisation. It ensures a system's capability to withstand and promptly recover from cyberattacks, technical malfunctions, deliberate tampering, and new deployments. The report aims to provide professionals, such as CISOs, with a comprehensive understanding of Cyber Resilience and insights to identify and manage top security risks for improving cyber resilience postures.

While these findings clearly demonstrate the need for high-grade cyber resilience, absolute security continues to evolve in its name and objective. With the essence of 'making security work', Absolute Security today seamlessly facilitates secure and uninterrupted operations for global enterprises amidst a rapidly transforming digital landscape.