Businesses in places including the island, are still struggling to comprehend and manage emerging cyber risks, it has been claimed.

 

Steve Billinghurst, cyber security leader at PwC Isle of Man, said: ’Few business issues permeate almost every aspect of business and commerce like cybersecurity does today.’

 

He added: ’Many organisations worldwide still struggle to comprehend and manage emerging cyber risks in an increasingly complex digital society, and the Isle of Man is no exception.

 

’Recent events have shown that cybersecurity shocks are felt throughout a closely connected economy such as ours and leadership commitment at both government and board level, resilience and collaboration are critical to successfully weathering the resulting storms.

 

The findings from PwC’s 2018 Global State of Information Security Survey will be presented at the upcoming Isle of Man Cybercrime Forum on December 6, at the Villa Marina, for which PwC Isle of Man is a gold sponsor.

 

The event will raise awareness of the current cybercrime risks within the industry.

 

Mr Billinghurst said: ’I will be presenting on the findings of this latest study putting forward some ideas on how business leaders can be better prepared.’

 

Massive cybersecurity breaches have become almost commonplace, regularly grabbing headlines that alarm consumers and leaders.

 

The Survey (GSISS) is based on responses of more than 9,500 senior business and technology executives from 122 countries.

 

Executives worldwide acknowledge the increasingly high stakes of cyber insecurity.

Of survey respondents, 40 per cent cite the disruption of operations as the biggest consequence of a cyberattack, 39 per cent cite the compromise of sensitive data, 32 per cent cite harm to product quality, and 22 per cent cite harm to human life.

 

Yet despite this awareness, many companies at risk of cyberattacks remain unprepared to deal with them - 44 per cent say they do not have an overall information security strategy; 48 per cent say they do not have an employee security awareness training programme; and 54 per cent say they do not have an incident-response process.

 

In May 2017, G-7 leaders pledged to work together and with other partners to tackle cyberattacks and mitigate their impact on critical infrastructure and society.

 

Two months later, G-20 leaders reiterated the need for cybersecurity and trust in digital technologies. The task ahead is huge.

 

Source: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=37348&headline=Failing%20to%20prepare%20effectively%20for%20cyber%20attacks&sectionIs=NEWS&searchyear=2017