Cyber Threats Still No. 1 Business Concern: 2022 Travelers Risk Index
Cyber threats were the top concern for business decision-makers for the third time in four years, according to the 2022 Travelers Risk Index.
Travelers said that big jumps were seen this year relating to concerns in oil and energy costs (a 16-point increase, up from 40%) and supply chain risks (54%, up from 43%).
The survey revealed that many companies seem to have a false sense of security when it comes to cyber preparedness. The vast majority (93%) of respondents were confident their company had implemented best practices to prevent or mitigate a cyber event; however, 64% admitted they don’t use endpoint detection and response, 59% haven’t conducted a cyber assessment for vendors, and 53% don’t have an incident response plan. And while 90% of survey respondents were familiar with multifactor authentication (MFA), only 52% said their company had implemented the practice for remote access.
“Cyber attacks can shut down a company for a long period of time or even put it out of business, and it’s imperative that companies have a plan in place to mitigate any associated operational and financial disruptions,” said Tim Francis, enterprise cyber lead at Travelers, in a statement. “Effective measures that have proven to reduce the risk of becoming a cyber victim are available, but based on these survey results, not enough companies are taking action.”
Other key cyber findings from the report:
The top three cyber concerns were suffering a security breach (57% say they worry some or a great deal), a system glitch causing a company’s computers to go down (55%) and becoming a cyber extortion/ransomware victim (54%).
More than a quarter (26%) of survey participants said their company had suffered a data breach or cyber event, with 49% reporting that the event occurred within the past 12 months. Of those who said their company had suffered a data breach or cyber event, 71% have been a victim more than once.
More than half (57%) of respondents think a future cyber attack on their company is inevitable.
Nearly 75% of respondents believe having a cyber insurance policy is critical, but only 59% said their company has purchased coverage—up only 3 points from 2021. Small businesses accounted for the largest increase of cyber policy purchasers, up from 30% to 38% this year.
About the Survey Hart Research conducted a national online survey of 1,202 U.S. business decision-makers July 11-27, 2022, regarding their top challenges. Launched in November 2014, the Travelers Risk Index survey was commissioned by Travelers.