Mazars' annual survey shows that 54% of business leaders believe threats are on the rise, and more than one in three expect a breach of sensitive data in the company next year. 05 Aug 2022 Lorenzo Forlani
More than half (54%) of business leaders believe cyber threats have increased in the past year, and 35% of them expect a significant breach of sensitive data within their company in the coming year. Globally, however, 68% of business leaders see their company's data as "fully protected," suggesting that most companies seem confident in their cybersecurity and their ability to cope with possible external attacks . These are some of the data that emerged from the "Cyber security report" survey, conducted by Mazars – an international group specialized in audit, tax and advisory services – on over 1,000 C-suite executives around the world, from which it emerges that business leaders around the world face cyber attacks on a daily basis, trying to defend themselves and protect themselves with every means at their disposal. The protection of information is now one of the key assets for the development of every country and every single company. In the current geo-political scenario, governments around the world are implementing counter-actions of global importance, planned in the government sphere, to increase the effectiveness of the cybersecurity systems of public institutions and organizations. And for private companies it is the same. Index of topics • Financial losses the main risk • Three tips from the Mazars expert Financial losses the main risk While there has been some security, financial losses are the greatest perceived risk. More than half of the C-Suites surveyed placed financial losses at the top of the list of the greatest risks to corporate data protection. Levels of concern and trust vary from industry to industry, with finance, technology and the consumer sector among the safest.
"In these last complex months we are working to better support our customers by finding optimal solutions that allow them to face cyber-security threats and improve their business defenses. We accompany them on a real virtuous path that aims to suggest to entrepreneurs "quick wins", that is, actions that can be taken in a short time and at relatively low costs but at the same time make company data safer and more protected", said Luca Savoia, Consulting Leader of Mazars. The three tips from the expert Mazars The expert Mazars then suggested 3 simple tips that companies, and especially SMEs, can put in place to raise their defenses in terms of cyber-security. The first is to intervene on procedures and Governance where the focus for SMEs remains on two main "pillars": one related to the management of incidents – from the ability to detect it to analyze and manage it – and the other focused on the management of critical events that can lead to the total or partial blocking of the company. This requires a well-structured and proven disaster recovery procedure. The second is to intervene on the "technology" by equipping itself with some services, often in the Cloud, which require very short times and low activation costs. Tools (such as XDR services, for example) that are intended to identify possible threats through real-time analysis of all those events classified as malicious. Further support is given by centralized artificial intelligence systems. Finally, intervene on human resources through the creation of training plans for employees. As often happens, in fact, the main information attacks occur mainly due to the unwitting contribution of employees or collaborators of the company who can easily fall victim to a phishing or ransomware attack. The best defense against cyber risks, therefore, remains to change mentality in order to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Cybersecurity is a rapidly evolving field, with attackers now heavily armed (even with AI) and very often two steps ahead of the organizations they have targeted. Accepting the possibility of data breaches occurring, and making robust plans to address them, provides the best guarantee for rapid response, effective recovery, and low costs.