Cyber risk is misunderstood

Leading organisations across Europe are failing to integrate cyber threats fully into their risk management strategies, according to research conducted by broker Marsh and insurer Chubb.

A survey, carried out at Marsh’s recent annual Communications, Media and Technology (CMT) conference, also found that concern among 69 percent of those surveyed about cyber risk had grown in the last twelve months.

“Risk managers are right to be concerned about cyber risk. These threats will become considerably more acute for organisations as a result of our growing dependence on technology and web-based solutions such as cloud computing,” said Fredrik Motzfeldt, CMT practice leader for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Marsh.

“Despite these concerns, risk managers continue to have a minority stake in the management of cyber risk. Our research found that 3 percent of respondents believed that the IT department was responsible for cyber risk management in their organisations, compared to only 13 percent who thought it was a matter for the risk management function.

“Cyber risks pose too great a risk to the continued success of organisations to be misunderstood. Closer alignment to the risk management function is a vital first step to countering this threat and ensuring that a risk based approach to IT investments is adopted.”