A survey carried out by EY Ireland has found that just over half of Irish businesses believe they are more exposed than they should be to a cyber-attack, due to insufficient resources.
According to the EY Ireland Global Information Security Survey 2021, this is well above the global figure of 36%.
90% of Irish businesses say that they have seen a rise in disruptive attacks in the last 12 months. This compares with 72% of firms globally.
Lack of consultation
The report says that Irish respondents to the survey feel more exposed than their global peers, due to a shortfall in funding, with 44% saying that their budgets are too low to handle the new challenges that have emerged over the last 12 months.
Only 30% of Irish respondents feel that their top management fully understands the value and needs of the cyber-security teams, compared with 42% globally.
And more than two-thirds say that their teams are sometimes consulted too late, or not at all, when their organisations make strategic decisions.
Boards ‘waking up’
“Cyber-attacks are becoming more frequent, more damaging, longer lasting and harder to anticipate,” says Carol Murphy (EY Ireland Consulting Partner and Head of Technology Risk).
She says that while most Irish businesses express confidence in their ability to manage and anticipate cyber-attacks, there needs to be a “heightened awareness” at board and executive level of the issues.
“With the regulatory burden rapidly increasing, however, boards are beginning to wake up to the threat posed and to the level of resourcing required – and not before time,” she adds.
The EY Ireland partner points out that, due to the pandemic, some allowances have been made to facilitate rapid implementation of working-from-home policies.
“As remote and hybrid working become part of normal working life, however, businesses need to address the resulting security gaps as a matter of urgency,” she warns.
The survey was based on a total global sample of 1,430 senior cyber-security executives, 50 of which were based in Ireland.