Cybersecurity: Fear of cyber threats among companies is decreasing, according to the HDI study

Cybersecurity: Fear of cyber threats among companies is decreasing, according to the HDI study

According to a report from www.dasinvestment.com, the topic of cybersecurity has moved out of focus for many companies compared to last year. Fear of cyber threats has decreased. This was the result of a current study by HDI Versicherung, for which over 700 small and medium-sized companies and self-employed people were surveyed about cybersecurity.

Compared to the previous year, only 41 percent of those surveyed rated the risk for an SME of becoming the target of a cyber attack in the next two years as “high” or “fairly high”. This is a decrease compared to the 53 percent last year. In particular, the assessment fell from 52 to 35 percent for small companies with up to 9 employees and from 62 to 48 percent for medium-sized companies. Only in companies with 10 to 49 employees did the value remain somewhat more stable, with a decline from 46 to 40 percent.

The risk assessment for your own company has also decreased. Only 27 percent see a high or rather high risk of becoming a victim of a cyber attack themselves, compared to 38 percent in the previous year. Only 23 percent fear that an attack could cause damage to their company, compared to 27 percent in the previous survey.

According to Christian Kussmann, head of the companies and freelance professions division at HDI Versicherung, the actual number of cyber attacks has decreased slightly overall compared to the previous year. However, he warns that the threat from cyberspace remains acute and that the level of IT security at most companies is low.

The study also shows that small companies with 10 to 49 employees in particular are more often the target of cyber attacks. In the current survey, 39 percent of these companies said they had already been the victim of a cyber attack, compared to 31 percent last year. For medium-sized companies with 50 to 250 employees, however, this value fell from 43 percent to 36 percent.

One reason for this shift could be that medium-sized companies are placing more emphasis on cybersecurity and taking more comprehensive prevention measures, making it more difficult for attackers to successfully carry out an attack. Small companies are less likely to take comprehensive security measures and are therefore often easier targets.

The study also shows that more and more companies are training their employees on cybersecurity topics. 64 percent of those surveyed stated that they had at least partially implemented employee-related measures. The use of simulated email attacks has risen particularly sharply, from 24 percent to 35 percent.

Companies primarily rely on technical measures such as automatic data backup, central import of updates, firewalls or VPN technology. 82 percent of those surveyed stated that they had implemented such measures in full or in part.

Demand for cyber insurance coverage has also increased. 38 percent of respondents said they had cyber insurance, compared to 34 percent last year. Smaller companies in particular with 10 to 49 employees are increasingly making use of cyber insurance.

These study results show that although the fear of cyber threats has decreased among many companies, the threat from cyberspace is still real. Companies should continue to take appropriate cybersecurity measures and train their employees to protect themselves from attacks.

Source: According to a report by www.dasinvestment.com