Many NZ Businesses Not Confident About Cyber Risks

Many NZ Businesses Not Confident in Understanding Or Managing Cyber Risks Including Their Supplier Exposures

Auckland, 20 March, 2018 – Cyber risk is high on the agenda for many New Zealand businesses however few are highly confident in understanding or responding to a cyber incident nor comprehend the risks their suppliers pose, according to a new global survey conducted by Marsh, a global leader in insurance broking and innovative risk management solutions, and Microsoft Corp., the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world.

Whilst 60% of the survey’s New Zealand respondents said that cyber incidents were in their top five risks, only 22% said they were highly confident in managing, responding and recovering from a cyber incident and 35% in understanding and assessing their cyber risks.

What’s more, 43% of respondents did not assess the cyber risks of their vendors or suppliers and 20% did not know if they were even exposed to any risks from their supply chain.

The findings were discussed at a Marsh cyber risk breakfast in Auckland this morning. Marsh Head of Specialities Fred Boles said, “Cyber risk is a topic that has been talked about for some time given our increasing dependence on technology. It is therefore surprising that many organisations are still unaware what their cyber risks are including the risks that suppliers pose.”

In regards to the scenarios that would create the greatest impact to NZ organisations, 80% of those surveyed said business interruption and 75% said reputational damage. In relation to cyber attacks that deliver destructive malware, people were most concerned about financially motivated threats, such as organised crime, and human error, such as the loss of an employee mobile device.

The costs of such incidents can be huge. In fact, the World Economic Forum estimates the economic loss of cyber incidents is between US$1.5 and four trillion a year.

Only 33% of respondents in NZ had developed a cyber incident response plan in the last 12 to 24 months. Of those who didn’t have a plan in place, 32% were unsure as to why this was the case.

“As with any major business risks, preparedness is the key to managing them”, said Mr Boles.

Organisations can more effectively manage cyber risk by applying a holistic, comprehensive approach that emphasises proven security practices, such as updating systems regularly, along with other preventative measures including planning that engages key stakeholders.”

The Global Cyber Risk Perception Survey had more than 1,300 executive responses coming from 26 industries.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded here.

-ENDS-

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