Private Companies Less Anxious About Cyber Attacks

CEOs for global private companies are less concerned about cyber attacks than public companies.

The PwC Global CEO study released this month titled Undaunted, but Underprepared? found that:

While 74% of global public companies are worried about accelerating technological change, and 65% about cyber threats, private companies, by contrast, register 68% and 59%, respectively.

“The fact that private company CEOs are less concerned about technology and cyber compared to their public counterparts is worrying, not least because private companies often have fewer resources available to them to invest in new technology and cyber security,” says Stephanie Hyde, PwC UK, Global Entrepreneurial & Private Business Leader. “This may make them more vulnerable to cyberattacks, so in theory they should be more concerned about these threats, not less.”

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By contrast, the annual study — which surveyed more than 1,300 CEOs in 79 countries — shows private company CEOs get how technology has impacted businesses:

  • 29% of global private company CEOs believe that technology has already completely reshaped competition in their industry, higher than publicly listed companies (25%).
  • And as many as 74% of private companies expect their markets to be transformed by technology over the next five years.

But not being prepared for an attack could mean a negative transformation.

“This is probably the single most worrying finding in our report,” Hyde warns, “especially in light of growing evidence that hackers are now targeting smaller and private businesses, thinking they will not be so well protected.”

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