Cybersecurity attacks looming as the single biggest risk to businesses

A growing number of big companies are becoming the target of elaborate and damaging cybersecurity attacks along with hefty payment demands to restore access.

The industry-leading business insurance company Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) recently conducted a survey in an attempt to rank today’s threats to businesses. A total of 2,718 CEOs, brokers, insurance experts and risk managers from 100 countries participated in the survey where 39% of them picked cybersecurity attacks as the biggest risk to companies worldwide. What used to rank at 15th place seven years ago with only 6% of surveyed participants selecting it now takes the first spot. When asked about which cybersecurity threat they fear the most, ransomware topped the list.

Ransomware is growing at an incredible pace throughout the years. They can drain a company’s financial assets because even after the malware has been removed and the ransom has been paid, companies are left to deal with costly legal fees filed by their customers and stakeholders who were affected by the incident such as data leak.

Business mergers and acquisitions are also vulnerable to cyber attacks, specifically if you are merging or acquiring companies with weak anti-malware protection.

AGCS Deputy Global Head of Cyber Marek Stanislawski claims, “Incidents are becoming more damaging, increasingly targeting large companies with sophisticated attacks and hefty extortion demands. Five years ago, a typical ransomware demand would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars. Now they can be in the millions.”

Ranking second to cybersecurity threats are business interruptions resulting from natural disasters, explosions, fires, political unrest, and breakdown of the digital supply chain.

Landing in third-spot, are changes to a country’s legislation and regulation, such as Brexit, protectionism, sanctions, and tariffs.

“Around 1,300 new trade barriers were implemented in 2019 alone,” the report found.

Executives also identified climate change as the seventh biggest threat to businesses.

“If a digital platform is unavailable due to a technical glitch or cyber event, the losses for multiple companies reliant on it could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars or higher if they cannot provide services or products,” the report added.

Strengthening your website’s cybersecurity measures with the help of a professional web management service provider will help lower its risk for data breach and the subsequent financial losses. This is especially true for businesses based in countries where cybersecurity incidents were rampant, such as the US, UK, France, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, South Korea, India, and South Africa.

Original source: https://www.ehackingnews.com/2020/01/cyber-security-incidents-biggest-risk.html