Cyber Readiness Report: Cyber Threats Demand More Investment

We’re always eager to learn more about how companies address cybersecurity and data protection. That’s why we read the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2022 with great interest. The report notes that cyber threats are now widely viewed as the number one risk to businesses.

The findings also show that companies that have already taken a cyber hit are more likely to see cybersecurity as an area of high risk than those that haven’t. But the overall majority—72 percent—agree that their brand will be damaged if they don’t handle client and partner data securely.

Nearly half of the respondents, 48 percent, reported a cyberattack in the previous 12 months. Even worse, 20 percent of the firms that suffered an attack said their solvency was threatened. Ransomware is also rising, with 19 percent of respondents reporting a ransomware attack. Two-thirds of those victims paid the ransom.

Cyber Expertise Is Important

Here’s another interesting tidbit: Companies with some level of cyber expertise available bled less money. Companies ranked as “cyber novices” paid a median cost 250 percent higher as a percentage of revenues than those with available expertise. And those costs are already high, with the report finding that the median price of an attack had risen 29 percent.

Cybersecurity Investments Are Increasing

On a positive note, respondents’ mean cybersecurity spending increased by 60 percent over the previous year—and 250 percent over 2019—to $5.3 million. And more companies are investing in cyber insurance policies, with 64 percent saying they have cyber insurance as a standalone or part of another policy.

Some IT Pros Are Making Progress

One of the most heartening statistics from the report illustrated that increased effort equals increased confidence in a company’s cybersecurity measures. Nearly 17 percent of respondents said their exposure to cyberattacks had decreased in the previous year.

The top two reasons? Better implementation of cybersecurity processes or procedures like patching and penetration testing—two specific actions that were mentioned by nearly two-thirds of these respondents. The appointment of key cybersecurity roles or a strengthened team was the other reason, cited by 46 percent.

Fewer Experts Are Available

The findings also note that overall cyber readiness scores fell, with significant losses in governance and assurance and fewer qualified IT experts available. And the number of firms ranked as experts in Hiscox’s cyber readiness model fell dramatically over the previous year, from 20 percent to just 4.5 percent.

This model relies on a self-assessment by responding companies. The report also notes that two factors appear to have made these companies feel less confident in their cybersecurity posture. The principal reason was the Log4j logging library vulnerability discovered last year. The second potential reason is the challenges companies face in finding qualified experts.

Cyber Readiness Includes Data Protection

It’s essential that you invest more to ensure your company is cyber-ready and your data is well protected. A key component of preparation is ensuring your ability to recover your data after a cyberattack, data breach, or ransomware attack. That starts with an effective data protection solution that guarantees your data is secure and always available.

With in-house cybersecurity expertise hard to find, we strongly recommend that you work with an Arcserve technology partner. They can help you put a solution in place that will keep your company running no matter what. And check out our on-demand demos to learn more about Arcserve data protection products.

Click here to read the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2022.