Cyber Incidents Hit 85% Of Firms Over Past 12 MonthsCyber Incidents Hit 85% Of Firms Over Past 12 Months

Eighty-five percent of executives say they were hit with a cyber incident in the past year, according to the 2016/2017 Kroll Annual Global Fraud and Risk Report. Malicious insiders prove the greatest threat.

One-third (33%) of respondents suffered virus attacks and 26% experienced email-based phishing attacks. Intellectual property theft/loss was the most common type of security incident, as reported by 38% of execs who experienced security problems. An increase in corporate fraud was driven by incidents of market collusion (15%) and misappropriation of company funds (11%).

Current and past employees are primarily responsible for fraud, cyber, and security issues. Nearly half (44%) of respondents hold insiders responsible for cyber incidents; more than half (56%) say insiders were "key perpetrators" of security problems.

Three-quarters (76%) of companies have begun to mitigate risk by implementing in-house security assessments of their IT and data infrastructure, execs report.

Kroll's Tommy Helsby says: "The impact of such incidents is significant, with punitive effects on company revenues, business continuity, corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, and employee morale."

Read full survey here.