At the same time as we begin to emerge from recent financial dislocations and economic turbulence — and as we face continued uncertainty in the Eurozone, election politics and regional conflicts — businesses face increasing risks from technological failures, cybercrime and data-privacy violations.
According to a recent study by Lloyd’s of London, cyber-risk — both malicious attacks and nonmalicious ones — is approaching the top 10 of risks threatening businesses worldwide. In the U.S., malicious attacks were ranked in the top five. Last year, hackers succeeded in attacking government networks in the U.S., India and Brazil. Data breach in various forms has struck major financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, stock exchanges, defense manufacturers, electronics manufacturers and Internet-based businesses. Statistics from a year ago estimated that cybercrime was costing companies $114 billion, with $96 billion in the U.S. alone.
