14 DAY TRIAL // Experts often say that cyberattacks are bad for the economy and the latest HBGary survey, conducted by Zogby Analytics, reinforces this.
It turns out that over 70% of American investors analyze the security practices of a company before taking any decisions. Moreover, 80% of them say they would probably not invest in an organization that’s been targeted by cybercriminals.
The study has also found that 66% of investors are likely to take a look at the fines or sanctions received by a company before investing.
“For some time, we have said that cybersecurity cannot be a “checkbox” item on a company’s operational to do list,” explained Ken Silva, senior vice president of cyber strategy for ManTech’s Mission Cyber & Intelligence Solutions Group.
“This survey proves that today’s investors are more educated about the damage cyberattacks can cause to a company’s brand and financial bottom line. The high cost of cyberattacks cannot be understated.”
However, investors appear to be aware of the fact that cyberattacks are highly common and there’s nothing that companies can do to make sure they’re not targeted. That’s why most of them don’t look at the actual attacks, but at the corporate responses to cyberattacks.
So what types of security incidents are more concerning? According to HBGary, breaches that involve customer data are twice as concerning as those as a result of which intellectual property is stolen.
“Consumer data breaches grab the headlines and the large liability settlements. But the lack of concern for IP theft, underscores the need for broader education about the financial risk IP theft poses to a company” noted Jim Butterworth, HBGary chief security officer.
“The pilfering of American company trade secrets and other sensitive data is happening every day – costing our corporations billions of dollars in lost revenue.”