CEO survey finds that many private companies are underprepared for cyber attacks
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- Published: Friday, 17 March 2017 10:09
PwC has published the results of its 20th Global Survey of CEOs, which focuses specifically on the threats and opportunities facing the 781 private company CEOs who participated.
The survey shows that 29 percent of private company CEOs believe that technology has already completely reshaped competition in their industry, higher than publicly listed companies (25 percent). And as many as 74 percent of private companies expect their markets to be transformed by technology over the next five years.
While 74 percent of public companies are worried about accelerating technological change, and 65 percent about cyber threats, private companies, by contrast, register 68 percent and 59 percent, respectively.
Stephanie Hyde, PwC UK, Global Entrepreneurial & Private Business Leader, says:
“The fact that private company CEOs are less concerned about technology and cyber compared to their public counterparts is worrying, not least because private companies often have fewer resources available to them to invest in new technology and cyber security. This may make them more vulnerable to cyberattacks, so in theory they should be more concerned about these threats, not less. In our view, this is probably the single most worrying finding in our report, especially in light of growing evidence that hackers are now targeting smaller and private businesses, thinking they will not be so well protected.”
PwC’s report ‘Undaunted, but underprepared?’ can be viewed here
