The Institute of Directors (IoD) in New Zealand has listed five issues that businesses in the country can no longer ignore this year, including cyberattacks.

Aura’s Cyber Security Market Research Report 2019 showed that more than a third of businesses in the country have dealt with a cyberattack in the past 12 months. However, IoD’s 2019 Directors’ Fees Report found that only 50% of boards reported discussing cyber risk and were confident that their organisation could handle a cyberattack.

Only 33% of the directors felt that their board had the right capability to lead their organisation’s digital future, while only 41% said they were getting a comprehensive report from management about data risks and incidents – down from 47% in 2018.

“This is a concern. These days, cyberattacks and data breaches are a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ they happen. There is no question boards need to develop their own and their organisation’s digital capability to handle these issues,” Kirsten Patterson, chief executive of IoD, said, as reported by Interest.co.nz.

Other issues that businesses can’t ignore this year are climate action, governing for purpose, reputation and trust, and board leadership/stewardship.

Read more: Air NZ service provider held to ransom by hackers

The report brings comes on the back of the recent cyberattack on foreign currency exchange specialist Travelex, which experts believe to be a part of the continued expansion of ransomware trends.

Nick Beecroft, client services manager at CyberCube, predicted that ransomware attacks will soon reach the point at which a major attack could cripple businesses across the world – resulting in complete systematic failure.

“The insurance industry, which offers protection to businesses like Travelex, is already planning for this type of event,” he said.