Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022: WEF

In News

• The World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022’ has stated that cyberattacks have surged amid accelerating Covid-driven digitalisation.

Key Highlights of the Report

• Rising cyber-attacks: 
  • The accelerating pace of digitalisation, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a record-breaking year for cybercrime with ransomware attacks rising 151 per cent in 2021, and an average of 270 cyberattacks per organisation being faced
• Cost of breaching:
  • Each successful cyber breach cost a company USD 3.6 million (nearly Rs 27 crore) last year, while the average share price of the hacked company underperformed NASDAQ by nearly 3 percent even six months after the event in case of the breach becoming public.
• Dangerous ransomware: 
  • The WEF said the global digital economy surged on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, but so has cybercrime and nearly 80 percent of cyber leaders now consider ransomware a ‘danger’ and ‘threat’ to public safety.
• Cyber resilience:
  • Some 92 per cent of business executives surveyed agree that cyber resilience is integrated into enterprise risk-management strategies, but only 55 percent of cyber leaders surveyed agreed. 
  • This gap between leaders can leave firms vulnerable to attacks as a direct result of incongruous security priorities and policies
  • Less than one-fifth of cyber leaders feel confident that their organisations are cyber resilient.
• Weakest Link:
  • Nearly nine in ten see SMEs as the weakest link in the supply chain.

Challenges

• Response time: 
  • Companies need 280 days on average to identify and respond to a cyberattack.
• Lack of skill set:  
  • Nearly two-thirds would find it challenging to respond to a cybersecurity incident due to the shortage of skills within their team.
• Retaining skilled force:
  • The dearth of staff security positions is a major threat to business continuity and even to national defence. 
  • The survey found that 50% of all respondents would find it challenging to respond and recover from a cyberattack due to the shortage of skills within their team, and less than 25% of companies with 5,000 to 50,000 employees, have the people and skills they need today.
• Poor Prioritisation: 
  • The survey indicates that whereas about 85% of cyber leaders agree that cyber resilience is a business priority for their organization, one of their most prominent challenges is to gain decision-makers’ support when prioritising cyber risks, against a plurality of other risks. 
  • These discordant results indicate that highlighting cyber resilience as a business priority alone is necessary but insufficient.

 Way Ahead

• In a world that is so deeply interconnected by digital technology, cybersecurity and global security are the same thing. 
• No single organisation, public or private, can have a complete view of the entire cyber landscape. 
• Senior leadership must insist organisations share information to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
• Organisations need to work more closely with ecosystem partners and other third parties to make cybersecurity part of their ecosystem DNA, so they can be resilient and promote customer trust.

Source: BS