2020 Travelers Risk Index Finds Fewer Companies Taking Steps to Mitigate Cyber Threats Despite Increased Concern
September 29 2020 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) today announced the
results of the 2020 Travelers Risk Index, which found that fewer
companies than last year have taken steps to mitigate cyber risks,
even though the level of concern about these threats has increased
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 1,200 business leaders participated in the national
survey, and less than half said their organization has utilized
hacker intrusion detection software (48%), undergone a cyber risk
assessment on their company (47%) or vendors (37%), or written a
business continuity plan that could help them respond to a cyber
attack (42%). More business leaders reported taking each of these
precautions just a year ago. This is especially concerning as
nearly 1 in 4 respondents (22%) said their company was a victim of
a cyber event, the highest percentage since the survey began in
2014.
While broad economic uncertainty is the greatest worry for
businesses overall, cyber threats are the top concern for large and
medium-sized businesses. Cyber also ranked first by companies in
the healthcare, technology, nonprofit and public sector industries.
The leading cyber concerns among all respondents are:
- Suffering a security breach (52% worry some or a great
deal)
- Unauthorized access to financial systems (50%)
- Employees putting company information at risk (48%)
- Becoming a cyber extortion/ransomware victim (47%)
- Theft of the company’s customer or client records (47%)
- Suffering a cyber event due to employees working remotely
(47%)
These concerns appear to be driven, in part, by the impact of
COVID-19 on businesses’ operations and workforces. The percentage
of businesses reporting that at least 40% of their employees work
outside of the office has more than doubled during the pandemic,
from 26% to 59%. Consequently, businesses find that they need to
manage a new set of cyber threats.
“With more employees relying on their ability to connect with
company systems from remote locations, and many consumers
preferring online transactions in an age of social distancing, it’s
more important than ever for companies to do all they can to
mitigate exposure to cyber threats,” said Tim Francis, Enterprise
Cyber Lead at Travelers. “Taking appropriate precautions and having
a plan in place should something go wrong will put an organization
in position to seamlessly get back up and running. This is critical
in ensuring that employees will be able to continue to access
systems and maintain productivity, while also delivering a high
level of service to customers.”
The survey also found that current events are influencing
perceptions about the business environment in general; the
percentage of respondents who say the business environment is
becoming riskier is up significantly, from 36% in 2019 to nearly
half (47%) this year. The top five risks concerning businesses of
all sizes this year are:
- Broad economic uncertainty (57% worry some or a great
deal)
- Cyber risks (56%)
- Medical cost inflation (54%)
- Increasing employee benefits costs (52%)
- Ability to attract and retain talent (47%)
“Working with companies to identify where they might be exposed
and figuring out how to close those gaps is our goal at Travelers,”
Francis added. “Our cyber risk professionals can help identify the
best cyber liability insurance solution that gives customers access
to endpoint detection and response monitoring services from
SentinelOneTM, pre-breach services from SymantecTM and a robust
collection of specialized risk management resources.”
Travelers continues to be proactive in addressing cyber
concerns, including during October, which is National Cybersecurity
Awareness Month. The Travelers Institute, the public policy
division of Travelers, will offer a webinar on October 21, with
Francis and Travelers Institute President Joan Woodward discussing
many of the survey findings.
Travelers provides a range of coverage options and services to
help businesses of all sizes prepare and recover if and when a
cyber event occurs. For more information, visit the 2020 Travelers
Risk Index website.
About the Survey
Hart Research conducted a national online survey of 1,216
business decision makers from July 6-23, 2020. The survey was
commissioned by Travelers.
About Travelers
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider
of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. A
component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has
approximately 30,000 employees and generated revenues of
approximately $32 billion in 2019. For more information, visit
Travelers.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200929005699/en/
Media: Michael Whitmer, 860.277.2010
mwhitmer@travelers.com
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