Insufficient boardroom focus on cyber security, finds study

Although 81% of boards in the UK have placed more emphasis on cyber security in light of the breach at TalkTalk, a mere 53% have drawn up plans for breach management, according to a recent survey.

Almost half of businesses in the UK that operate in major industries and responded to the poll lack well-established plans for crisis management for data breaches. Tech company CGI commissioned the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) study.

The study further found that 48% of those who responded said that cyber security only makes an occasional appearance on a boardroom’s agenda, with a large number addressing it less than even twice each year. Further, just 9% of their technology budget, on average, is invested in the prevention of cyber crime.

The aim of the research was to find out how board members and C-level executives in the utility, insurance, finance, telecoms, and retail sectors manage security risk, assess who is responsible for cyber security, and discover whether or not they are prepared to deal with them.

The research found that close to 30% of boardrooms in key sectors of the UK economy acknowledge that cyber security is an issue, with just 35 per cent of executives in boardrooms acknowledging that their board possesses sufficient cyber expertise.

More boardrooms need to open their eyes to the fact that they need to create and fill cyber security jobs if they wish to avoid becoming the next TalkTalk and falling foul to a major breach.