According to the 2017 Global Cybersecurity Assurance Report Card released by Tenable Network Security®, Inc., a global leader transforming security technology for the business needs of tomorrow, India earned the highest overall global score in cybersecurity confidence, with 84 percent (B).

India debuted in the annual survey this year, beating out last year's leader in overall score, the United States, which fell two points to second place with 78 percent (C+). The overall global cybersecurity confidence, on the other hand, fell six points over 2016 to earn a 70 percent (C-).

The 2017 Global Cybersecurity Assurance Report Card solicited insights from 700 security practitioners in nine countries and across seven industry verticals to calculate a global index score reflecting overall confidence that the world's cyber defenses are meeting expectations.

While the 2017 Global Risk Assessment Index dropped by 12 percent, India stayed ahead of the curve with an above average rating of 73 percent (C).

"India's high cybersecurity confidence is certainly a positive trend, especially when the global outlook is gloomy," said Manoj Taskar, Country Manager India & SAARC, Tenable Network Security. "These scores are a testament to the increased focus Indian enterprises have towards security as they embrace the digital economy. There has been a conscious effort from various stakeholders in the industry to empower the security ecosystem of the country, and we are now seeing the results."

Despite leading in overall grades, Indian security professionals struggle with assessing risks in new and emerging technologies. This year's data indicate that the growing adoption of containerization platforms and DevOps environments poses new challenges, with respondents grading themselves a 68 percent (D+) in their ability to assess risk in both categories.

Globally, security practitioners continue to face challenges in securing cloud and BYOD environments, while web application security emerged as a bigger risk this year than in 2016, dropping 18 points to 62 percent (D-).

"This year's research reveals that Indian CISOs must prepare themselves and their organizations for the new security challenges of the modern workplace," said Taskar. "Across industry verticals and around the world, organizations are struggling to assess IT security risks brought on by new technologies. Leveraging data and insights from the Global Cybersecurity Assurance Report Card, IT teams can improve their security program effectiveness and better prepare themselves for continued technological innovation."

Other Key Findings

• India earned higher Risk Assessment and Security Assurance scores than the US and Canada
• India's security pros rated themselves high (96 percent) in "aggregating risk intelligence"
• Indian practitioners find it challenging to assess security risks in laptops and notebooks, earning a 58 percent (F)
• "Overwhelming cyber threat environment" continues to be the topmost challenge for practitioners globally
• Education (64 percent) and Government (63 percent) earned the lowest overall scores among the seven industry verticals surveyed