Cyber Threats Still No. 1 Business Concern: 2022 Travelers Risk Index

Cyber threats are the top concern for business decision-makers for the third time in four years, according to the 2022 Travelers Risk Index.

Cyber threats were a top concern by 59% for respondents, followed by broad economic uncertainty (57%), fluctuations in oil and energy costs (56%), the ability to attract and retain talent (56%), and medical cost inflation (55%). Big jumps were seen relating to concerns in oil/energy costs (a 16-point increase, up from 40%) and supply chain risks (54%, up from 43%).

The majority (93%) of survey respondents were confident their company had implemented best practices to prevent or mitigate a cyber event; however, 64% admitted they don’t use endpoint detection and response, 59% haven’t conducted a cyber assessment for vendors, and 53% don’t have an incident response plan. While 90% of respondents were familiar with multifactor authentication (MFA), only 52% said their firm had implemented it for remote access.

Other key findings from the report:

• The top three cyber concerns were suffering a security breach (57%), a system glitch causing a company’s computers to go down (55%) and becoming a cyber extortion/ransomware victim (54%).
• More than a quarter (26%) of survey participants said their company had suffered a data breach or cyber event, with 49% reporting that the event occurred within the past 12 months. Of those who said their firm had suffered a breach or cyber event, 71% have been a victim more than once.
• More than half (57%) think a future cyber attack on their company is inevitable.
• Nearly 75% of respondents believe having a cyber insurance policy is critical, but only 59% said their company has purchased coverage — up only 3 points from 2021.

Small businesses accounted for the largest increase of cyber policy purchasers, up from 30% to 38% this year, the survey found.