According to a global security automation survey, providing libraries of common practices and best practices that can be used for easy automation as well as automating workflows and policy execution around security operations are the most important thing required of security automation technologies, as of 2021.
Essential requirements for IT security automation in organizations worldwide from 2019 to 2021
Characteristic
2019
2020
2021
Provide libraries of common practices and best practices that can be used for easy automation
21.5%
25.4%
48%
Automate workflows and policy execution around security operations
52.1%
55.6%
46.8%
Support improved exchange of information between operational teams and external stakeholders
11.1%
12.4%
44.3%
Increase speed and quality of threat investigations by automating data collection and analytics
58.5%
47.3%
37.3%
Correlate incidents more effectively for proactive analysis
42.2%
42.6%
31.2%
Reduce false positives
34.8%
37.3%
29.7%
Provide journaling to record information about the history of an incident
21.5%
14.8%
26.6%
Leverage forensics in analyzing activities that occurred pre- and post-breach
14.1%
18.3%
18.7%
Utilize threat intelligence from a variety of sources
17.8%
23.1%
11.9%
Generate reports and dashboards that can address concerns specific to the organization
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SANS Institute, & D3 Security. (August 18, 2021). Essential requirements for IT security automation in organizations worldwide from 2019 to 2021 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved June 03, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168625/top-essential-security-automation-requirements/
SANS Institute, und D3 Security. "Essential requirements for IT security automation in organizations worldwide from 2019 to 2021." Chart. August 18, 2021. Statista. Accessed June 03, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168625/top-essential-security-automation-requirements/
SANS Institute, D3 Security. (2021). Essential requirements for IT security automation in organizations worldwide from 2019 to 2021. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: June 03, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168625/top-essential-security-automation-requirements/
SANS Institute, and D3 Security. "Essential Requirements for It Security Automation in Organizations Worldwide from 2019 to 2021." Statista, Statista Inc., 18 Aug 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168625/top-essential-security-automation-requirements/
SANS Institute & D3 Security, Essential requirements for IT security automation in organizations worldwide from 2019 to 2021 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168625/top-essential-security-automation-requirements/ (last visited June 03, 2025)
Essential requirements for IT security automation in organizations worldwide from 2019 to 2021 [Graph], SANS Institute, & D3 Security, August 18, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1168625/top-essential-security-automation-requirements/
