As concerns about cyber threats have grown, a higher percentage of businesses across nearly every industry reported taking proactive measures to safeguard against cyber risks — although a sizable percentage have not implemented such preventive best practices. The steps taken by respondents include:
Purchasing a cyber insurance policy (51% of survey participants, up from 39% last year).
Creating a business continuity plan in the event of a cyber attack (47%, up from 38%).
Taking a cyber risk assessment for themselves (49%, up from 45%) and their vendors (41%, up from 37%).
Updating computer passwords (74%, up from 71%).
“The Travelers Risk Index shows that more businesses are taking steps to prevent a cyber event, but it’s still alarming that nearly half don’t have the proper insurance coverage,” said Tim Francis, Enterprise Cyber Lead at Travelers. “One cyber attack can put a company out of business. Taking the threat seriously and implementing a risk management program that addresses possible exposures can help a company not only avoid an attack but also recover from one as quickly as possible.”
Since 2015, the percentage of small business respondents who have suffered a cyber attack has tripled, from 4% to 12% this year. Increases are also being reported among medium-sized companies (10% in 2015 to 20% this year) and large businesses (from 19% to 33%).
“More companies are experiencing cyber attacks,” Francis said. “The cost of a single breach to a small business can easily reach a substantial amount of money on top of the time it takes to restore the business, so protecting a company’s assets with a cyber insurance policy is critical.”
Other key findings from the 2019 Travelers Risk Index include:
Suffering a security breach and a third party gaining unauthorized access to bank accounts were tied as the biggest cyber-specific worry among businesses. The third-highest cyber-specific concern was an extortion or a ransomware attack, which increased to 52% from 44% in 2018. Lastly, 43% of respondents said social engineering scams were a concern, up from 36% last year.
While there is greater awareness of cyber risks generally, one in four survey participants didn’t believe their business would suffer a cyber attack, and thus opted not to purchase a cyber insurance policy. The top reason for not purchasing a cyber insurance policy, cited by 31% of respondents, was the expense.
Three-fourths of survey participants agreed that having the proper cyber prevention tools in place is critical to the well-being of the business, an increase from 69% in 2018.
Nearly 80% of respondents admitted that it is difficult to keep up with the ever-changing cyber landscape.
The percentage who said today’s business environment was more risky remained at 36%.
Travelers provides a range of coverage options, pre-breach tools and assessment resources, as well as post-breach services to help businesses of all sizes prepare and recover if and when a cyber event occurs.
For more information, visit the 2019 Travelers Risk Index website. To help business owners better protect against cyber attacks, the Travelers Institute will bring its Cyber: Prepare, Prevent, Mitigate, Restore℠ educational series to Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 24.
About the Survey
Hart Research conducted a national online survey of 1,200 business decision-makers from July 8-19, 2019. The survey was commissioned by Travelers.