Cloud security will surpass cyber risk in 2023, according to senior UK executive

According to PwC’s annual Digital Trust Insights, cloud-related risks top the list of cybersecurity concerns that senior managers in the UK say will have a significant impact on their organizations in 2023.

The study is based on a large survey of global and UK business leaders looking at key cybersecurity trends for the next year. About 39% of UK respondents say they expect cloud-based risk to have a significant impact on their organizations in 2023. This is greater than cyber risk from other sources such as laptop/desktop endpoints, web applications and the software supply chain.

A third (33%) of respondents expect attacks against cloud management interfaces to increase significantly in 2023, and 20% expect attacks against the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Operational Technology (OT) is expected to increase significantly over the next 12 months.

But even in 2023, the long-standing and familiar cyber risks are still present, highlighting the challenges facing businesses. Just over a quarter (27%) of UK organizations expect a significant increase in business email compromises and ‘hack and leak’ attacks in 2023, and 24% expect a significant increase in ransomware attacks I expect to. Nonetheless, cybersecurity budgets will increase across many organizations in 2023, with 59% of UK respondents saying they expect budgets to increase.

Richard Horne, Cyber ​​Security Chair, PwC UK, said: An overwhelming majority (90%) of senior managers in the UK ranked ‘increased exposure to cyber risk due to accelerated digital transformation’ as the biggest cybersecurity challenge their organizations will experience in 2020 and beyond. bottom.

“However, these digital transformation initiatives, including initiatives such as moving to the cloud, moving to e-commerce and digital service delivery methods, using digital currencies, and converging IT and operational technology, are future-proofing businesses. , are essential to unlocking value, generating sustainable growth.”

Nearly two-thirds of UK senior managers say they have not fully mitigated the cyber risks associated with digital transformation. This is despite the potential costs and reputational damage of cyberattacks and data breaches: just over a quarter (27%) of his CFOs globally who participated in the survey said that their organizations had He said he experienced a data breach that damaged him more than $1 million.

Cyberattacks are now seen as the biggest risk to organizations

Executives are becoming more aware that these complex cyber threats and their potentially harmful impacts can pose significant risks to the resilience of the wider organization. Just under half (48%) say “catastrophic cyberattack” is the biggest risk they have formally incorporated into their organization before the global recession (45%) and COVID-19 resurgence (43%) Said it was a scenario. This reflects PwC’s findings. 26th Annual CEO Surveynearly two-thirds (64%) of UK CEOs say they are very or very concerned about cyberattacks affecting their ability to sell products and services.

Bobby Lumsden Knowles, Crisis and Resilience Partner at PwC UK, said: Only by taking a more strategic approach to resilience to high-impact, increasingly real threats can organizations protect what matters most to their business survival, reputation, and ultimately trust. can be built. ”