Global risk barometer
Hackers are the biggest fear for managers
January 16, 2024, 2:42 a.m
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Companies worldwide are increasingly concerned about cybercriminals. However, Allianz Insurance’s risk barometer shows interesting peculiarities for Germany: Bureaucracy comes in third place as a horror in this country.
According to a study by insurance giant Allianz, the risk of hacker attacks and IT failures is the biggest concern for companies worldwide for the third year in a row. 36 percent of the more than 3,000 managers, insurance brokers and risk experts surveyed named cyber risks as one of the biggest risks for their company, Allianz said in its just published annual “Risk Barometer”. A year earlier it was 34 percent.
The number of attacks in which companies’ data is encrypted has increased dramatically in the past year, said Jens Krickhahn, Allianz’s cyber chief. Cyber attacks also play a major role in the second largest risk, the risk of business interruptions due to disrupted supply chains. 31 (2023: 34) percent are afraid that this could affect their company.
German companies worried about new regulations
In Germany, too, the fear of IT risks in the survey (44 percent) has overtaken the fear of business interruptions due to fire, machine breakdowns or natural disasters (37 percent). Worldwide, the biggest jump in risk perception is natural disasters, which concern 26 (19) percent of those surveyed and thus move from sixth to third place. Among the German participants in the survey, concerns about changes to laws and regulations (23 percent) ranked third. This also includes sanctions or tariffs.
The impending shortage of skilled workers appears to play a particular role in Germany. It is cited as a top business risk by 20 percent, similar to the UK, Eastern Europe and Australia. Worldwide it is only twelve percent. IT and data experts in particular are difficult to find – which in turn makes the fight against cyber risks more difficult.
“Extreme weather events, ransomware attacks and regional conflicts are once again putting a strain on the resilience of supply chains and business models this year,” said Petros Papanikolaou, the new head of the industrial insurance division Allianz Commercial, commenting on the results. According to the study, fear of macroeconomic factors such as inflation or rising interest rates has become less important for companies worldwide. A year ago it was mentioned by a quarter of those surveyed and ranked third, but this time it was only 19 percent and ranked fifth.