The latest report in our Risk & Resilience series explores the difference in perception and resilience to technology risk amongst business leaders. Here our Global Head of Cyber Services, Raf Sanchez, discusses its findings, and the key risks that insurance buyers and clients are facing today.
Well over a third (37%) of business leaders in the UK and US perceive the perils within our technology category of risks to be their most pressing area of concern now. That proportion rises to 39% as we look ahead 12 months. But although these risks are challenging to manage, the good news is that executives are not in a mood to wave the white flag any time soon.
Cyber: a binary issue? There is an alarming trend in cyber threats. Despite the worsening risk picture, businesses’ sense of confidence around cyber risk is notable - it is the technology threat to which businesses feel most resilient, even as attacks seem to increase in number and sophistication.
Disruption: stick or twist? Disruption is ranked second overall in the technology category of risks behind cyber. However, it edges into the top spot for UK participants who appear to feel this risk more acutely than their US counterparts.
Tech: the gateway to disruption? Failure to invest and to keep up with the competition paves the way for disruption by others who are nimbler, smarter and have more robust business models. Financial institutions and professional services are most concerned by this risk.
Intellectual property: a business blind spot? Of all the risks in the technology risk category, the failure to recognise and protect the value of intellectual property assets is ranked the lowest, with a median of just 12% of business leaders rating it their top risk.
This report is packed with information on businesses’ concerns about technology risks and on their perceived levels of resilience. We hope it will help open the door to useful conversations about how different risks manifest in different sectors and what we can do, as an industry, to help our clients to anticipate and manage these risks better.
Please contact us if you would like to start a conversation and find out more.
paul@beazley.com
raf@beazley.com
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