High-growth companies with lax IT security
Only 62 percent of companies pay proactive attention to the success-critical issue of online security.
Prospering companies often neglect the issue of online security. This is shown by a survey of more than 1100 employees conducted by the authentication specialist Beyond Identity. According to the study, 62 percent believe that their employers proactively pay attention to online security.
Bad passwords
The picture is even more alarming when it comes to employers' password tactics: although compromising passwords is the most common way for hackers to gain insider access, password hygiene is worse in high-growth companies than in those with normal growth. For example, passwords are stored less securely.
As a result of this lax approach to security, high-growth companies regularly face security breaches. More than a third of respondents (35 percent) say their company has already been exposed to between three and five cyber attacks, and 20 percent have been affected even more frequently. Nevertheless, growing companies seem to be better able to limit the damage (87,000 Swiss francs). For standard companies, the losses amounted to more than 110,000 francs on average.
Nevertheless great learning effect
Another plus for high-growth companies is that many of them tightened the reins after a security breach: For example, 70 percent immediately began educating their employees about cybersecurity and 60 percent took action to secure their data. However, less than half of standard and high-growth companies invested in cybersecurity insurance or installed dedicated cybersecurity software after an incident.
