@Risk

Over the past few years, social media has evolved into an essential component of the marketing toolbox.

But, most companies have failed to keep pace with the necessary compliance and risk policies and procedures.

A recent study conducted by Grant Thornton LLP and Financial Executives Research Foundation illustrates the problem. The survey responses from 141 senior financial executives from public and private companies showed that: (more…)

Do you know what your employees, customers and competitors are saying about your company online via social media networks?

Most companies don’t –and that’s starting to cause headaches for risk professionals.

A recent survey by the Federation of European Risk Management Associations and the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) asked risk professionals which three cyber risks they thought were the greatest threats to their own organization and to business, in general.

For business, in general:

• Respondents ranked social media alongside non-malicious operational IT risks, theft of customer information and malicious interference with IT systems as the greatest cyber threats to business. Reputation risk from social media was cited as a material risk by nearly 50 percent of respondents and loss of confidential information through social media by 20 percent.

In terms of exposures to their own organizations, the emphasis shifted somewhat:

• More than half put operational, non-malicious IT risks among the top three, followed by 43 percent theft of customer information (43 percent) and social media risks (42 percent).  21 percent said they were concerned about loss of confidential information through social media.

In other findings: (more…)

Email is fundamental to business communication.

But is this commonplace, everyday electronic correspondence a threat to your company’s data security and regulatory compliance?

It very well could be, and according to a recent study by Zix Corporation and Ponemon Institute,  IT professionals are growing increasingly concerned about these risks, especially now that more and more  business is conducted outside the office using mobile devices.

The survey, which received feedback from 830 IT and IT security practitioners, as well as IT compliance, legal and other specialists, found that: (more…)

Despite widespread awareness, cyberattacks are becoming  increasingly common.

As remarkable as it sounds, a new study from HP and the Ponemon Institute found that over a four-week period, the organizations surveyed experienced 72 successful attacks per week, an increase of nearly 45 percent from last year. (Note: More than 90 percent of all cybercrime costs were caused by malicious code, denial of service, stolen devices and web-based attacks.)

Of course, the financial impact of a cyberattack can be devastating. The Second Annual Cost of Cyber Crime Study also revealed that the median annualized cost of cybercrime incurred by a benchmark sample of organizations was $5.9 million per year, with a range of $1.5 million to $36.5 million each year per organization. This represents an increase of 56 percent from the median cost reported in the inaugural study published in July 2010. (Note: More than 90 percent of all cybercrime costs were caused by malicious code, denial of service, stolen devices and web-based attacks.)

Interestingly, the study looked deeper into the economic costs of cybercrime and found that: (more…)

Even though many have had to cope firsthand with disruptions caused by recent natural disasters such as Iceland’s volcanic eruption or the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, executives now see cyber attacks –rather than physical attacks –as potentially the most damaging to their supply chains, according to new report from PwC.

The report, Volume 4 of the Transport & Logistics’ 2030 series Securing the Supply Chain, is a joint project between PwC and the Supply Chain Management Institute (SMI) at EBS Business School in Germany.  It warns that cyber attacks are now so sophisticated that any business, or even country, could be at risk. (The German internet, for example, is attacked every two seconds, PwC says.)

On average, the 80 science, government and business executives polled agreed that there is a 56 percent probability of a rise in attacks in some form. Overall, those surveyed said they were even more concerned about hacker attacks affecting their supply chains than they were about actual physical attacks.

In addition, survey respondents said there was a 70 percent probability of logistics companies having to perform obligatory security checks on their whole supply chain, and they said there was a 60 percent probability that modern technology would offer businesses better protection.
(more…)