Is business right to be as confident as it is about its cyber resilience?

Cyber remains the leading technology risk for business leaders but there is also a worrying degree of complacency around active cyber risk management and maintaining resilience as other risks come to the fore.

Our latest research with business leaders about the cyber risks they face and their resilience to them throws a spotlight on how other risk classes may be distracting them from what remains a real and present danger.

Companies are not as well prepared as they think

It can be easy for companies who've never experienced a cyber attack to underestimate their level of preparedness….but the fact of the matter is that cyber risk isn't going away and companies are more dependent on technology than they've ever been in the past.

Patricia Kocsondy Patricia Kocsondy
Head of US Cyber Risks

Cyber and technology slips down the risk ranking as other risks dominate

In recent years, business has been spurred into risk management and insurance buying, as it became increasingly conscious of the cyber threat. However, as geopolitical challenges have begun to dominate, companies may have developed a potentially dangerous ‘out of sight, out of mind’ view when it comes to cyber.

Cyber risk is being overshadowed by geopolitical turmoil

While cyber remains the leading risk for all of those we surveyed in 2022, other major global challenges, such as inflation and energy prices and of course the threat of war, have grabbed the attention of companies. This means that business leaders are perhaps less focused on cyber risk than they were in 2021.

Aidan Flynn

Aidan Flynn
Head of London and International Underwriting Management, Cyber

security

Yin and Yang of cyber risk and resilience
28% say cyber is their No.1 risk YIN, 41% feel resilient YANG.

law

IP a risk waiting to happen
107% increase in concern since last year.

technology

Obsolete tech
Concern grows as 27% highlight it as top risk.

encryption

Cyber hygiene
Is key to insurability.

Resilience falls across cyber and tech risk categories

spread dot chart

Why is updating legacy systems important?

Our research shows that obsolete technology is the number one concern for many US and UK businesses. Companies need to grow. Companies need to evolve and they do need to replace their legacy systems. And there's a multitude of reasons why they would want to do that, whether it's to improve business processes or to provide a better customer experience.

Bala Larson

Bala Larson
Head of Client experience

IP risk is an accident waiting to happen

In the UK and US, the proportion of business leaders putting IP concerns top has increased by 107% since last year.

Six out of the 10 industry sectors had a 10+ point increase in leaders listing intellectual property as their top concern. Hospitality, Entertainment and Leisure and Marine and Warehousing both saw a 16-point increase (a rise of 366% and 152%, respectively, in real terms) on last year, perhaps reflecting the vulnerability of both sectors to phishing and ransomware attacks.