Global executives are more concerned about cyber threats as they face a “quadruple whammy of whack-a-mole-style risks”, a Beazley report says. 

The insurer’s CEO Adrian Cox says there are reports almost every day of damaging cyberattacks on businesses around the world.

“While there is no simple solution to this problem, and cyberattacks are inevitable, it’s time to build a mindset of preparation, not panic,” Mr Cox said.

“Building resilience that focuses on before, during and after prevention and protection is the only way we can avoid prolonged outages that shatter reputations and cripple finances.”

Mr Cox says no institution is impenetrable but appropriate controls and protections help, and a quality response to an attack is as impactful as preventing one in the first place.

Beazley’s report, based on a survey of 3500 global executives, says major risk drivers are cyber warfare, third-party vulnerabilities, ransomware attacks and hacktivism.

Tech transformation and cyber risk perception findings show 29% of respondents cite cyber as their greatest threat, up from 26% last year.  

In the financial institutions and professional services sector, 31% nominate cyber, ahead of 26% naming tech disruption, 22% tech obsolescence and 21% intellectual property. 

Beazley says while awareness of cyber risk is growing, executives feel more prepared for evolving threats, with perception of resilience rising to 83% this year from 75% last year. 

About 79% of executives say their businesses plan to improve security with third-party suppliers following high-profile systemic incidents, and 37% will invest in improved cybersecurity this year.

Survey respondents were based in UK, US, Canada, Singapore, France, Germany and Spain.