2020 Cyberrisk Landscape

February 3, 2020

In this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer, cyber incidents were named the top risk to businesses worldwide, cited by 39% of the 2,700 risk professionals surveyed, a dramatic rise from 6% (15th place) just seven years ago. 

“Awareness of the cyber threat has grown rapidly in recent years, driven by companies’ increasing reliance on their data and IT systems and a number of high-profile incidents,” Allianz said. “Businesses face a growing number of cyber challenges including larger and more expensive data breaches, an increase in ransomware and business email compromise (spoofing) incidents, as well as the prospect of litigation after an event. Political differences between nation states being played out in cyberspace brings added risk complexity, while even a successful merger or acquisition (M&A) can result in systems problems.”

According to a recent Cyber Trendscape Report by FireEye, more than 90% of organizations believe the cyberrisk landscape will stay the same or worsen in 2020, yet half report they do not believe they are ready for—or would respond well to—a breach or attack. What’s more, 29% of those with cyber incident response plans in place have not tested or updated them in the past 12 months.