70% of CEOs Now See Cybersecurity as Strategic Business Enabler
A significant 70% of CEOs worldwide now recognise cybersecurity as a strategic business enabler, according to a recent study. This shift in perception highlights the growing importance of cyber resilience in today's digital landscape.
The study identified five key actions of cyber-resilient CEOs. These leaders embed cyber resilience in their business strategies, establish shared accountability for security, secure the digital core of their organisations, extend cyber resilience beyond their organisational boundaries, and embrace ongoing cyber resilience. Only 5% of CEOs are classified as cyber-resilient, demonstrating a clear gap between awareness and action.
The same study revealed that just 33% of CEOs have a deep understanding of the evolving cyber threat landscape. While CEOs are aware of the threats, they lack confidence in their organisations' ability to avert or minimise attacks. The accelerated pace of technology innovation was ranked as the top risk for cyberattacks by 52% of CEOs, with cyber trust and resilience for emerging technologies rated as highly relevant by 86%.
Cyber-resilient CEOs, who embed security in their strategies from the outset, are found to be 2 to 3 times more effective in reducing breach costs. Supply chain disruption was identified as the second highest external risk by 51% of CEOs, underscoring the vulnerabilities of global organisations' value chains. Environmental changes and initiatives were acknowledged as linked to and vulnerable to cyber threats by 90% of CEOs.
With global cybercrime costs projected to reach $10.5 trillion USD annually by 2025, the need for cyber-resilient leadership has never been more pressing. As CEOs increasingly recognise the strategic importance of cybersecurity, the 5% of cyber-resilient CEOs serve as a beacon for the rest of the business community, demonstrating the value of proactive, strategic cybersecurity leadership.
