More than half of UK business leaders anticipate more cyber threats

2nd December 2021

A survey revealed that over 66% of UK business leaders expect cyber threats to increase over the next 12 months.

Ransomware is proving to be a major concern, with over 61% of business leaders expressing concern about the increase in cyberattacks.

While ransomware is a significant worry for businesses, however, it is not the only cause for concern. Another 61% of leaders are worried about business email compromises, while another 63% are worried about malware updates, and another 64% expect a jump in attacks on their cloud services over the next year.

The rising number of cyberattacks indicates that cybercriminals are becoming bolder.

What is emboldening cybercriminals, and is there anything that can be done to mitigate the problem?

The cause of rising cyber threats

Even though UK businesses have taken several precautions to protect their systems from cyber threats, their supply chains remain woefully vulnerable.

86% of business leaders say that network complexity is creating concerns around risk levels, with third-party cyberattacks proving to be a glaring blind spot.

With organisations working with hundreds of vendors, their supply chain and networks are constantly expanding, making it difficult to secure their vendor network.

Concerns about supply chain security are compounded by the fact that cybercriminals are far more sophisticated in their cyberattacks; combing the supply chain for the most vulnerable vendor before launching an attack.

Most businesses are responding to this problem by expanding their cybersecurity budgets to tackle the issue. Research shows that over 63% of survey respondents have expanded their cybersecurity budgets, compared to 59% last year.

Not everyone, however, is getting the desired results. For example, out of the 37% of organisations that invested in cloud security, only 18% said they were satisfied with the results. This indicates that businesses are not getting the ROI they were expecting.

The problem could be attributed to an insufficient focus on vendor security. Solutions targeting vendor security can close the gap most organisations face in their security measures, and reduce cyberattacks—maximising ROI on vendor security.

What can businesses do to resolve the challenges?

With cyber threats on the rise, business leaders need to ensure that their network and supply chain remain completely secure.

When examining the data, it is clear that most organisations lack effective third-party security mechanisms to protect their supply chain, which would explain the meteoric rise of ransomware attacks and business email alerts.

To work around this issue, organisations should consider vendor risk management solutions to improve third-party security. Solutions, such as vendor risk rating solutions, improve vendor security and reduce third-party risk, making it easier to secure networks against devastating third-party attacks.