Most businesses expect cybersecurity threats to increase over the next year

Date:
Tue, 23 Nov 2021 10:47:28 +0000

Description:
Most organizations fear ransomware attacks, business email compromise, and malware delivered via software updates.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Todays business landscape is creating an environment in which cybercrimes can thrive, and this threat is only set to increase, a new study has found.

Polling 3,600 business and technology executives from around the world for
the report, PwC found multiple factors contributing to the rising threat of cybercrime, including lower barrier for entry for numerous types of malware attacks, rising complexity of organizations due to mergers and acquisitions, remote working, or multi-vendor environments, to name but a few.

As a result, two-thirds (66%) of UK business leaders believe the cybercrime threat will only increase, going forward, mostly fearing ransomware attacks, business email compromise, and viruses delivered via software updates. Challenges

For Bobbie Ramsden-Knowles, Crisis and Resilience Partner, PwC UK, there are things businesses can do, especially when it comes to ransomware:

Whereas other types of crises may be perceived as 'black swan' events that
can not be predicted, ransomware attacks have become so widespread that we have seen a common set of challenges and decisions that all organizations would face, he said.

Developing - and aligning - ransomware playbooks for executive crisis teams and operational responders is a no-regrets move. And, testing these through wargames and exercises can reduce uncertainty, build confidence in the
ability to respond and help prioritise focus on preventative measures.

Rising complexity in business operations is only rubbing salt in an already open wound. Growth, mergers, and acquisitions, as well as rapid adoption of new technologies and endpoints , have made security difficult, with 86% of business leaders stating the levels of risk are concerning. Attacking clouds

The majority (64%) expect more attacks against their cloud infrastructure, it was said, yet less than half understand cloud risks, based on formal assessments. Supply chain risk is no different - most firms expect more breaches through this attack vector, yet just 42% have formally assessed
their exposure.

To combat the threat, most firms are upping their security budgets for the coming year. However, simply throwing money at a problem does not mean it
will go away. Richard Horne, Cyber Security Chair, PwC UK said businesses
need to ensure the best possible ROI.

Our research found that few organizations are confident they are reaping the rewards from increased spending. For example, while 37% of UK respondents
said they had implemented cloud security at scale, just 18% are fully realizing the benefits of their investment. The remainder either werent investing in this area or hadnt yet implemented it at scale.

To overcome this challenge and build greater confidence in their security investments, organizations must improve their cyber risk modeling and analysis. This ensures increases in cyber budgets are allocated to priority risks and help build long-term resilience, he concluded. Stay protected with the best antivirus around



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/most-businesses-expect-cybersecurity-threats-to -increase-over-the-next-year/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)