Few New Zealand businesses are confident in understanding or responding to a cyber incident, nor do they fully comprehend the risks their suppliers pose to them, a new survey conducted by Marsh and Microsoft shows.
While 60% of the survey’s New Zealand respondents said cyber incidents were in their top five risks, only 22% said they were highly confident in managing, responding and recovering from a cyber incident and 35% in understanding and assessing their cyber risks.
Further, 43% of respondents did not assess the cyber risks of their vendors or suppliers and 20% did not know if they were even exposed to any risks from their supply chain.
The survey findings were discussed at a Marsh cyber risk breakfast in Auckland this morning.
“Cyber risk is a topic that has been talked about for some time given our increasing dependence on technology,” said Fred Boles, Marsh head of specialties. “It is therefore surprising that many organisations are still unaware what their cyber risks are including the risks that suppliers pose.”
Only 33% of respondents in New Zealand had developed a cyber incident response plan in the last 12 to 24 months. Of those who didn’t have a plan in place, 32% were unsure as to why this was the case.
“As with any major business risks, preparedness is the key to managing them.
“Organisations can more effectively manage cyber risk by applying a holistic, comprehensive approach that emphasises proven security practices, such as updating systems regularly, along with other preventative measures including planning that engages key stakeholders,” Boles said.
The Global Cyber Risk Perception Survey had more than 1,300 executive responses coming from 26 industries.
