Cybersecurity: Increased digital reliance creates vulnerabilities

Cybercriminals have not been idle over the last year, quickly exploiting the vulnerabilities created by COVID-19 home working and increased digital and remote operations.

Our 2020 European Technology Index reveals:

Ransomware and extortion attacks continue to generate billions in revenues globally

87% of respondents ranked cybersecurity second highest this year for potential business growth, behind only IoT/connectivity (92%).

An upward trend in perceived protection reflects significant budgets and resources

34% of respondents thought their company was extremely secure against the possibility of a cyberattack, compared to 23% in 2018. 63% felt their company was fairly secure, compared with 73% in 2018.

General levels of security are increasing, but many companies don’t have adequate protection

34% of companies (compared to 44% in 2018) still rated their worry about the possibility of a cyberattack as 8, 9 or 10 (10 being very worried). Further, 44% of financial institutions reported they were worried about cyberattacks, as did 35% of companies with over 10,000 employees.

 

Findings suggest companies have taken a closer, more critical look at cyber cover

Only 65% and 63% of respondents respectively considered that insurance was adequate or there was an adequate incident response plan in place to cover cyber incidents, compared to 80% and 83% respectively in 2018.

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