Cyber attacks top list of key business threats for third year running in BCI’s Horizon Scan Report
The large-scale cyber attacks that took place last year have reaffirmed the need to build cyber resilient organisations. That’s according to the seventh edition of the Business Continuity Institute’s (BCI) Horizon Scan 2018, released in association with the BSI. For the second year in succession, the threat posed by data breaches was ranked second.
The annual BCI Horizon Scan assesses the business preparedness of 657 organisations worldwide and shows that 53% of business continuity and resilience professionals are ‘Extremely concerned’ about the possibility of a cyber attack. Meanwhile, 42% are worried about the possibility of a data breach, with 36% concerned about unplanned IT or telecoms outages.
Physical security challenges also remain a major concern for organisations, with 18% of businesses identifying any interruption to utility supplies and adverse weather as severe threats. There’s an intrinsic connection between these two concerns, as severe weather events – such as Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey – often damage infrastructure and utility services. This unavoidable ‘chain reaction’ reinforces the overriding importance of workplace recovery plans designed to help organisations become better prepared for crises, ensuring the safety of their staff and the stability of their operations.
The report suggests that professionals are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits that business continuity brings to their organisations. The uptake of ISO 22301 for business continuity is growing, as is the investment made into dedicated business continuity management programmes.