Risk for companies with cyber attacks exceeds that of a pandemic, research says

Cyber ​​attacks top the list of the biggest risks for companies in 2022 for the second time in history, surpassing the risks linked to the pandemic of Covid-19 and disruptions in supply chains.

The conclusion was released this Tuesday (18) by the 2022 Risk Barometer, a survey carried out by Allianz with 2,650 experts worldwide.

Among the interviewees, 44% pointed out the cyber attacks as the biggest risk to companies, followed by loss of profits (42%) – an area that encompasses interruptions in supply chains and which led the ranking in 2021 – and by natural disasters (25%), who ranked sixth last year.

The risks linked to the Covid-19 pandemic had taken second place in 2021, but now, with the advance of the vaccination and companies feeling that they can adapt well to the pandemic these days, occupy the fourth place, with 22% of mentions.

Another risk that gained space was the one linked to climate changes (17%), which went from ninth to sixth position. Changes in legislation and regulations maintained fifth place (19%), as did fire and explosion hazards (17%).

Closing the top ten risks in the view of experts are market events (15% and eighth place compared to fourth in 2021), lack of skilled labor (13%, ninth place after being 13th in 2021) and macroeconomic events (11% , 10th place compared to eighth in 2021).

Specifically in the Brazilian case, cyber risks ranked first for the second year in a row, being considered the greatest threat to business by 64% of respondents. Second are natural disasters (30%), and third is business interruption (29%).

Also among the most cited are the risk of fire and explosion (26%), macroeconomic development (17%) and the pandemic (14%), which moved from third place in 2021 to sixth.

For Allianz, the leadership of cyber risks is linked to the increase in ransomware attacks targeting companies, considered the biggest threat in the topic. Data leaks and IT outages are also concerns in the area.

The advancement of natural disasters and climate change in the ranking suggests a “relationship between these trends”.

“The last few years have shown that the frequency and severity of weather events are increasing due to global warming. In 2021, global insured catastrophe losses were well over $100 billion – the fourth highest year on record.