Increased demand for better cybersecurity standards from government agencies and from consumers will force companies in 2014 to take more decisive actions to protect against the legal, financial and public image risks, according to Kroll Inc.’s third annual Cyber Security Forecast.

The forecast, released on Dec. 3, focuses on trends culled from actual cases or corporate situations that Kroll consultants have handled or observed. One trend involves corporate data storage and processing, said Alan Brill, senior managing director and founder of Kroll’s global high-tech investigations practice.