More satisfied abroad: Swiss companies feel safe from cyber attacks

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Although a hacker attack on a Swiss IT company has once again shaken many federal administrations, companies in this country are significantly more satisfied than the global average when it comes to protection against cyber attacks. This is demonstrated in a survey of internal security managers by international consulting firm EY. While only 42 percent of the 500 organizations surveyed globally felt satisfied with the way they were handling cybersecurity issues, among the 28 companies selected in Switzerland, this figure rises to almost three-quarters.

Swiss companies also perform better in terms of the number of cyber attacks. An average of 14 incidents were recorded last year. There are 44 companies worldwide. Swiss companies also fare well in terms of response time: According to the survey, they need less than five months to respond adequately, while nearly three-quarters of companies worldwide need more than six months. So, is Switzerland in a better position than other countries when it comes to IT security?

Good results thanks to the financial sector

“Sometimes large deviations between global and Swiss results are due in particular to the industry of the participating companies and the functions of the participating individuals,” says Tom Schmidt, EMEIA Financial Services Cybersecurity Competency Leader at EY in Switzerland. The majority of participating companies in this country came from the financial sector. “On average, the financial industry has much better cybersecurity maturity than many companies in other industries.”

Moreover, the small number of cyber incidents does not necessarily prove that risks are being handled better: According to a survey published in September by the SwissVR board association in collaboration with auditing and consultancy firm Deloitte Switzerland and the University of Lucerne Applied Sciences, this is also due to the lack of processes that reporting such attacks can indicate shows that it originates from SMEs in particular do not have a clear strategy. This was also reflected in the EY survey: 60 percent of respondents said they perceived a lack of awareness about cybersecurity outside of their IT departments.

Swiss people are traditional

Companies surveyed see artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud as the biggest threats of the next five years. The biggest challenges are lack of resources and qualifications. Among other things, training and further training of existing cybersecurity personnel, as well as automation of security processes to save personnel, are aimed at solving this problem.

However, when it comes to implementation, Swiss companies are more traditional. “In global comparison, we see Swiss companies being more cautious about introducing new technologies such as artificial intelligence,” says Roman Haltinner, EMEIA Europe Western Cybersecurity Competency Leader at EY in Switzerland. Such automated security measures enable faster response to threats.

Source :Blick