Cyber breaches have doubled in five years, says Zurich report

By Ben Mouncer

Zurich’s Global Risks Report for 2018 has highlighted the increasing threat businesses have to contend with in the field of cyber security.

According to the report, cyber breaches recorded by companies have doubled since 2012 from 68 per business to 130 per business in 2017, with ‘dark net’ markets for malware goods and services having undergone a resurgence.

The proliferation of cloud services being used by companies has also further exposed them to risk, with the report counting Internet of Things (IoT) devices globally at 8.4bn, which exceeds the global population of 7.6bn. By 2020, that number is expected to reach 20.4bn.

See also: 

Xi: China won't close doors to global internet 

Oxford University: China ahead of US in Big Data but behind in AI as a whole

Read the latest Asia edition of Business Chief! 

Businesses are committing more and more capital to preventing cyber attacks, with 254 companies surveyed last year putting aside an average annual firefighting sum of £11.7mn. $8trn is expected to be spent collectively on stopping attacks around the world over the next five years.

The Global Risk Report, an annual publication by the Swiss insurance group, also investigates the environmental risks that have developed in recent years alongside those associated with cyber security, while too measuring fiscal indicators that suggest potential threats to the global economy.

By reading the report in full here (link below), executives can learn more about risks that could be just around the corner in Zurich’s new ‘Future Shocks’ section, while in ‘Hindsight’ the report looks back at past editions to analyse the evolution of previous risks.

Created in partnership with Marsh & McLennan Companies, the National University of Singapore, Oxford Martin School at Oxford University and Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Centre, University of Pennsylvania, the 2018 report was Zurich’s 13th edition of the Global Risks Report.

Share

Featured Articles

Meet the female CEOs driving growth for Starbucks China

COO Molly Liu to join Belinda Wong as co-CEO Starbucks China, as the company builds on its skyrocketing growth with plans to open 2,500 stores by 2025

The world’s biggest chipmaker bets big on renewable energy

Despite the struggle faced by chipmakers to reduce emissions, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is accelerating renewable energy adoption by 10 years

Uniqlo shakes up leadership amid global retail ambitions

Fast Retailing, the group behind Japan’s Uniqlo, overtakes Gap with soaring profits and is now eyeing accelerated global expansion with executive shakeup

What is the ESG strategy of Chinese automaker Geely Holding?

Sustainability

Top 10 best-performing CEOs in Singapore

Leadership & Strategy

Top 10 women behind India’s most successful tech startups

Leadership & Strategy