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Given the increasing frequency of cyber attacks and the sophistication of cyber criminals, it is imperative that companies put measures in place to counteract bad actors. However, the cyber risk environment is becoming increasingly challenging for companies to navigate. The emergence of cloud computing, 5G, the internet of things (IOT) and other new technologies are increasing the threat vectors for many organisations.

UNITED STATES

Guidehouse

“The cyber risk environment for most organisations is becoming more complex and challenging, with remote operations being driven by the current COVID-19 pandemic and the addition of new technologies like 5G, the internet of things (IoT), and the medical IoT (MIoT). These new technologies expand the attack surface of enterprise IT for organisations at an exponentially increasing pace, making it difficult for cyber security teams to protect organisations. With an uncertain global economic outlook for most countries, cyber criminals will increasingly target financial institutions and expand their activities in other sectors, including healthcare, energy and transportation.”

UNITED KINGDOM

Corix Partners

“The risks that are on most people’s minds are, of course, those due to the impact of COVID-19, especially the need for many to rapidly deploy remote working or online selling capabilities. It is well documented that malicious actors have been significantly more successful than prior to the pandemic with well-crafted phishing attacks and malware deployment. And hasty digital transformation has been all too common for those businesses that have been able to continue operating during the pandemic.”

FRANCE

Gibson Dunn

“The cyber risk environment is still evolving and there has been an increase in the number of data breaches notified to authorities, due to the rise of phishing and ransomware attacks. Recently, the cyber risk environment has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. First, a number of vulnerable organisations have been hit by cyber attacks, including hospitals – on 22 March 2020, the AP-HP suffered a denial of service (DDoS) attack and on 13 March 2020, the city of Marseille’s computer servers were hit by ransomware. Second, the increasing use of remote working and new modes of communication, such as videoconferencing, have also increased the possibilities of cyber attacks.”

BELGIUM

Tokio Marine HCC

“The cyber risk environment is constantly changing as cyber issues gain in complexity and digitalisation increases. In addition, increased cloud usage, terrorism and wars have also had an impact on the intensity of cyber attacks. These factors make cyber security the global hot topic it is today and have contributed greatly to its improvement. The fact that one can now find a chief information security officer as a member of the C-suite shows the importance companies place on cyber risk. The number of ransomware attacks being carried out is already high and is on the rise.”

GERMANY

Tokio Marine HCC

“The cyber risk environment, along with all risks in general, is changing at a faster than usual rate. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our daily lives and made it glaringly obvious that the analogue world can directly impact the digital world in a matter of days. IT landscapes changed drastically as many companies closed their doors and shifted to remote working. While this does drive digitalisation, it also puts IT environments at risk, with potential new security gaps.”

SPAIN

Aon

“Cyber risk is becoming increasingly complex and widespread. More bad actors are appearing globally and many of them are well resourced. The last few months have been particularly challenging, as a significant part of the world’s population has been working remotely, therefore the attack surface has increased. Furthermore, proper security measures have not always been implemented, as many users have relied on remote connections through their own devices, often outside of congested VPNs. Additionally, there has been an increased likelihood of employees clicking on malicious links purportedly about the pandemic as anxiety about the subject may lead them to click on any COVID-19 related topic.”

PORTUGAL

Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados

“The major cyber threat to most companies today lies in email. More specifically, in the use of employee email accounts. This is the gateway for most cyber attacks, ranging from unsophisticated and commonly seen ‘Nigerian prince’ scams, to the most sophisticated malware, phishing and ransomware attacks. The reason is simple: IT departments can more easily prevent risky behaviour by an employee than react to an outside attacker who is actively searching for human failure. The former is largely preventable by blocking access to certain websites, monitoring threats arising from unadvised web usage or imposing download restrictions on certain file types.”

CONTRIBUTORS

Aon

Corix Partners

Gibson Dunn

Guidehouse

Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados

Tokio Marine HCC