Cyber threats continue to present a constant risk to business.
The World Economic Forum in 2024 ranked cyber insecurity as the fourth-largest global risk over the short term (two years) and the fifth-largest risk for a crisis on a global scale that year.
And recent global research from technology company Cisco found that 73% (down from 82% in 2023) of business leaders with cybersecurity responsibilities believe a cyberattack will disrupt their business over the next one to two years.
The report — 2024 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index — highlights that malware and phishing are the most common types of attack. Also, it finds there has been a shift in the threat level posed by malicious external individuals or groups. Sixty-two per cent of respondents in 2024 perceived external actors to be the biggest threat against 31% for the internal threat within a company. Respondents to Cisco’s 2023 readiness index viewed the two groups as posing an almost similar threat level.
The opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) offers business extend to cybersecurity, but AI also increases the cyber threat to organisations. According to Cisco, though, 46% of organisations are at the progressive stage and only 7% at the mature stage of integrating AI within their cyber defences.
What to guard against: Common cyberattacks
Readiness by company size
Is your sector ready?
AICPA & CIMA RESOURCE
Guidance
CGMA Cybersecurity Tool: Risk, Response and Remediation Strategies 2023