Cyber Attacks and Data Breaches Cited as the Number One Business Risk for Organizations

Even when looking at the various kinds of risks to business, cyber attacks still remain the biggest problem. But new data shows there may be a lesson to be learned to minimize losses.

Aon’s Global Risk Management Survey, nearly 3,000 organizations across 61 countries were asked about sources of business risk. In the report, “Cyber Attack/Data Breach” was the #1 current risk and #1 future risk seen by organizations.

Nearly 90% of organizations reported they were in a state of readiness for a cyber attack. However, when looking at the state of organizations’ mitigation actions across all ten business risks, the data tells another story:

• Only 34% of organizations have actually assessed the risks
• Only 17% have quantified the risks
• Only 23% have developed continuity plans for each risk

It may very well be that cybersecurity has a different level of priority over other business risks. According to Aon, cybersecurity has the highest percentage of organizations reported being ready for a Cyber Attack/Data Breach. However, there are plenty of businesses that aren’t ready, as risks like economic slowdown and scarcity of materials have each resulted in higher losses of income in 2023 for organizations than cyber attacks.

Even when you put all these data points together, it seems like the lowered losses of income from cyber attacks may be a cause and effect situation. The reason why is because most organizations are well-prepared (likely with a layered security strategy that includes security awareness training). They’ve been able to mitigate the risk and stop attacks before they became costly.

KnowBe4 enables your workforce to make smarter security decisions every day. Over 65,000 organizations worldwide trust the KnowBe4 platform to strengthen their security culture and reduce human risk.