How 27% of global companies suffer data breaches in 3 years– PwC

By Motolani Oseni

About 27 per cent of global companies –one in four- surveyed by PwC have reported that they suffered a data breach that cost them US$1- 20 million or more in the past three years.

The PwC’s annual Global Digital Trust Insights Survey, which surveyed more than 3,500 senior executives across 65 countries, stated that the percentage rises to one in three 34 percent for companies surveyed in North America, with only 14 per cent of firms globally reporting that no data breaches have occurred during the period.

Despite cyber-attacks continuing to cost businesses millions of dollars, fewer than 40 per cent of executives surveyed say they have fully mitigated cybersecurity risk exposure in a number of critical areas.

This includes, enabling remote and hybrid work, 38 per cent say the cyber risk is fully mitigated; accelerated cloud adoption 35 per cent; increased use of internet of things 34 per cent; increased digitisation of supply chain 32 per cent and back office operations 31 per cent.

For operations-focused executives surveyed, cybersecurity of the supply chain is a major concern. Nine in ten expressed concern about their organisation’s ability to withstand a cyber attack that disrupts their supply chain, with 56 per cent extremely or very concerned.

Risk Assurance Services Leader, PwC Nigeria, Femi Osinubi, said: “Data breaches are a pervasive threat in today’s digital world. As cyber threats continue to increase in frequency and sophistication, a holistic approach to cybersecurity has become a top priority for C-suites and boards, DailyTimesNGR gathered.

“Companies are strengthening their cyber defenses and regulators are applying pressure to improve cyber resilience and build public trust. It’s clear from our survey that a higher level of public-private collaboration is needed to address the increasingly complex cyber threat landscape – companies are calling for increased information sharing and transparency as well as a consistent format for mandatory disclosure of cyber incidents.”

The majority of executives surveyed said their organisations are continuing to increase their cyber budgets – 69 per cent said the budget increased in 2022 and 65 per cent plan to spend more on cyber in 2023. Increasing budgets reflect the fact that cybersecurity tops the agenda for resilience planning. According to the survey, a catastrophic cyber-attack ranks higher than global recession or another health crisis for organizations’ resilience planning.

READ ALSO: Allianz Global investors target $1bn for blended

Concern with cyber extends to the top of organisations. Most CEOs surveyed are planning to ramp up action to address cybersecurity in the coming year – 52 per cent said they will drive major initiatives to improve their organisation’s cyber posture. Many CFOs surveyed are also planning to increase their cyber focus, including cyber technology solutions (39 per cent), focus on strategy and coordination with engineering/operations (37 per cent) and upskilling and hiring of cyber talent (36 per cent)

Four in five organisations (79 per cent) surveyed state that a comparable and consistent format for mandatory disclosure of cyber incidents is necessary to gain stakeholder confidence and trust. Three-quarters (76 per cent) agree that increased reporting to investors will be a net benefit to the organisation and entire ecosystem. Further, the same percentage agrees that governments should be expected to use the knowledge base from mandatory cyber-attack disclosures to develop cyber defence techniques for the private sector.