Public sector facing highest risks from global threats

The public sector is most at risk due to data security breaches, economic uncertainty, and emerging technologies compared to other industries, according to a new study.

Moreover, Veritas Technologies’ report, Data Risk Management: The State of the Market—Cyber to Compliance, shows that while the public sector ranked as the most at-risk group globally, only 48 percent of respondents see themselves as being at risk.

This is higher than the average of 45 percent of global organisations miscalculating the severity of threats to their business.

“Whilst the public sector may be shielded to an extent from some of the economic volatility that private businesses must deal with, it often faces increased data security and cybersecurity risks, particularly because it is custodian to huge amounts of sensitive data, as well as being responsible for providing vital services,” said Barry Cashman, regional VP, UKI, at Veritas Technologies.

“When balancing risk, there is a narrow path between success and failure. But, in many cases organisations underestimate the level of risk they face, and this leaves them dangerously exposed. If you can’t see the extent of the threats, how can you possibly plan for them and deal with them effectively? Recognising what could be coming your way is the first step to preparing for what could, or does, lie ahead in order to be ready with a response.”

Data security the biggest risk

The global study polled 1600 executives and IT practitioners across 13 global markets. Researchers assigned each respondent a ‘risk ranking’ score based on their answers and what these revealed about their adherence to security best practices.

Global participants identified data security (46 percent), economic uncertainty (38 percent) and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) (36 percent), as the top threats faced by their organisations today, from among an extensive list of possible hazards. Traditional threats like competition and a shortage of talent took fourth and fifth place.

In the UK, 82 percent of respondents admitted they had experienced a negative impact from risks, including reputational and financial harm. When asked which risks had resulted in actual damage to their organisations, data security ranked as one of the highest, with 33 percent of respondents attesting to related damages.

The effects of data security breaches were underscored by the number of UK organisations which have been hit by ransomware attacks. Half (51 percent) said that, over the past two years, their organisation had been the victim of at least one successful ransomware attack in which hackers were able to infiltrate their systems. Meanwhile, seven in ten (70 percent) believe data security risks have increased over the last 12 months.

UK businesses are fighting back though. On average, data protection spending has increased by a third across all on-premises, private and public cloud environments over the past 12 months. The average UK company has also hired 21 new staff members across their data protection and security teams in the last 12 months, and 79 percent said staffing levels are now at an adequate level for keeping their organisation secure.