In this nationwide survey, 58% of the respondents expressed worry to some extent about cyber threats, placing it just below concerns about medical cost inflation (60%) and broader economic uncertainty (59%).
However, despite their confidence in having implemented best cyber practices, the survey revealed that at least 25% of businesses have not taken critical steps, such as installing firewalls or virus protection and implementing data backup and password updates.
Furthermore, a substantial proportion stated they do not use endpoint detection and response (64%), conduct cyber assessments for vendors (57%) or customers’ assets (56%), possess an incident response plan (50%), or employ multi-factor authentication for remote access (44%).
Approximately one-quarter of the participants (23%) disclosed that their company had experienced a cyberattack, with nearly half of those incidents (49%) occurring within the last 12 months.
Phishing emails, where cybercriminals deceive an employee into transferring company funds to a fraudulent account, have been on the rise. The percentage of respondents from large companies reporting phishing scams nearly doubled in the past year, from 14% to 27%. Security breaches, involving unauthorized access to a company’s computer system, remained the most common event across companies of all sizes, accounting for almost one-third (32%) of attacks.
Ransomware was ranked ninth among specific cyber-related business concerns, despite being a prominent cause of cyber-related claims in the industry.
Among medium-sized businesses, 74% stated they have a cyber policy, up from 67% in 2022. Large companies remained at 72%, the same percentage as the previous year, while small businesses (34%) were still the least likely to have cyber insurance coverage. Overall, 60% affirmed their company has cyber insurance, a significant increase from 39% five years ago.
Awareness of cyber-specific risks continues to rise, with 81% of respondents believing that having proper cybersecurity controls in place is crucial to their company’s well-being, up from 78% last year and 69% in 2018.
“Cyber risks have extremely serious consequences – one attack can weaken an organization or potentially put it out of business. Fortunately, there are effective measures that companies can take to address vulnerabilities and successfully manage through a cyber event,” Travelers enterprise cyber lead Tim Francis said.
“While the business community has come a long way in preparing for and responding to a cyberattack, the survey results show that more can still be done,” Francis added. “A well-designed, multi-layered cybersecurity program can help mitigate the threat of a cyber event, and we encourage organizations to work closely with their independent insurance agent as we all navigate an evolving cyber landscape,” Francis said.
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