Half of Irish Businesses Fear a Cyber Attack

A new survey by Data Solutions has found that half of IT decision makers within Irish businesses are concerned that nation state cyber warfare, such as the SonyCyber-Security-Image hack, may become a threat to their business.

Furthermore, 22% of IT professionals believe operations and production departments pose the biggest information security concern. The sales department and IT department were next at 20% and 19% respectively. Forty per cent of respondents blamed a lack of IT security knowledge or information for cyber security risk. About one third said the internal use of social media, personal devices or applications by employees was an information security risk to the business.

Ruaidhri McSharry, COO SureSkills & Axelos Strategy Partner said, “Cyber Security is not new but there is a critical need for people, organizations and businesses to be aware of what Cyber Security means, what options and how to go about it without having the security itself compromise the business. I would go as far as to say that Cyber Security protocols that SureSkills offer will add real business value to the business. Its time people did something about it.”

The majority (65%) of IT decision makers in Irish businesses said insiders pose the greatest security threat to business. Thirty-five per cent of respondents believe an outsider; either former staff, suppliers, criminals or others with malicious intent; is the most likely source of information security breach.

Data Solutions, Security Sales Manager, David Keating said, "When it comes to cyber security risk, there is clearly a lack of information among non-IT users in Irish businesses and a need for education. The IT department may have security measures in place, but the user needs to be aware of factors that indicate a cyber-security risk in the first place in order to flag a concern. IT can then step in using tools that safely assess the risk. We are also seeing a growing concern among Irish businesses on the use of social media platforms and cloud-based solutions. The Third Platform brings with it new cyber security risks. Historically, Irish businesses have used IT applications and systems that were introduced by the business itself. Now, with the advent of IT consumerisation, users are bringing systems into the business, sometimes without the knowledge of the business."

What can you do about it?

As one of Ireland’s leading Training and Certification Centres, SureSkills boast a wide array of offerings, which now includes cyber security. As the range and complexity of cyber threats and vulnerabilities has increased, the approach to managing the associated risks has also evolved and matured. RESILIA™ is a complete, collaborative risk-based approach driven by the Board but involving everyone across the organisation and extending to partners, supply chain and customers. It requires moving away from strategies that seek solely to protect the business to an approach that includes preparing for, and recovering from, a cyber-attack.

Our belief is cyber security is an issue for a whole organisation, from board to staff and from customers to suppliers. AXELOS' RESILIA™ best practice and certification is aimed at everyone who has an influence on cyber resilience, including information security, IT development, product owners, customer operations and business support (including finance and risk). The AXELOS RESILIA range of tools and simulations are aimed at more specific groups including board management, information security and risk management. AXELOS RESILIA is aimed at all types and sizes of organisation, both in the public and private sectors.