18/Nov/2019
Cybersecurity company FireEye Inc. recently released its inaugural FireEye Cyber Trendscape Report. In a survey of more than 800 CISOs and other senior executives across North America, Europe and Asia, the report looks at current responses to cybersecurity’s key threats and issues.
In the light of recent breaches and despite punitive measures such as GDPR, some of the report’s key findings make for alarming reading.
Despite its generally good position, approximately one-tenth of UK organisations (11%) have no cyber attack or breach response plans. Only Japan (15%) and Canada (19%) had less healthy positions. In Germany the percentage was a commendable 5%. In France just 2% of respondents claimed to have no plans for a cyber attack or breach response. The global average was 8%.
More than half of those organisations surveyed believe that the risk of cyber threats will increase in 2020. Of the global respondents surveyed, 56% feel that the risk of cyber attacks will increase next year. Respondents in key European territories seem less pessimistic: in the UK the percentage was 52%, with 50% in France and 45% in Germany.
Of the territories surveyed, the UK seems to be most eager to respond to cyber threats by taking out insurance. Although 32% of UK respondents revealed that they have no cyber insurance, the French proportion was 43% and almost two-thirds of respondents in Germany (60%) lack cyber insurance. Globally, 50% are not covered for cyber attacks at present.
The UK’s stronger position on cyber insurance (compared with other territories covered in the report) may be a result of GDPR, which took effect in May 2018, but similar potential compliance penalties don’t yet seem to be of major concern to business people. The survey found that just 24% of global respondents identified these fines as a worry, with 39% in the UK doing so. In Germany the percentage was 22% percent. It was 19% in France. Globally and in France, Germany and the UK, the loss of sensitive data was the biggest concern.
A widespread lack of cyber security training is an issue, with Germany leading the survey. More than a fifth (21%) of German respondents lack any cyber security training program in their organisation. The global average was 11% – just ahead of the UK (10%). In France 99% of organisations reported having such training.
In recent years, AI and blockchain have established prominent positions on the cyber landscape. As a result, globally 86% of those surveyed by FireEye reported having set up blockchain initiatives. There was some variation among the key European countries. In Germany, just over a fifth (21%) of respondents have not researched blockchain and say it is not a priority. The French equivalent was 10%. In the UK the percentage was 14%. However, In France, Germany and the UK an equal 40% of those surveyed said they had begun initiatives regarding AI and AI security.
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