'Catastrophic Damage' From Cybersecurity Attacks Worries 62% Of Business Owners: Zscaler, CrowdStrike Stocks React

According to a recent survey, cybersecurity threats are business owners’ top concern.

Almost two-thirds—62%—say they worry some or a great deal about cyber risks, according to The Travelers Companies’ 2024 Travelers Risk Index, released on Tuesday.

"The findings speak to the business community's greater awareness of cyber threats and the catastrophic damage, both operational and financial, a cyberattack can have on a company," said Tim Francis, enterprise cyber lead at Travelers. "What's troubling is that while more businesses are securing cyber insurance as a tool to mitigate vulnerabilities, many still elect not to — despite knowing the risks."

According to the survey, medical cost inflation is the second-highest concern of business owners, with 59% saying that is what worries them the most. This is followed by increasing employee benefit costs and economic uncertainty at 59% and retaining talent at 54%.

Almost a quarter—24%—of 1,202 survey participants said their company had experienced a cyber incident, and more than half happened in the past year.

Read Also: Microsoft Plans Major Cybersecurity Summit After Global IT Outage Hits 8.5M Devices Earlier This Year

This year’s survey marked the eighth time in nine years that the percentage of respondents who said their company has suffered a data breach or cyber event increased from the prior year.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they had a cyber insurance policy, up from 60% of last year’s respondents and 39% of those polled in 2018.

The survey reported a year-over-year increase across businesses of all sizes: small businesses rose from 34% to 41%, mid-sized companies increased from 74% to 77%, and large businesses grew from 72% to 78%.

A security breach and someone gaining unauthorized access to financial accounts or control systems ranked as the type of cyber incident that most worried business owners at 57%. Ransomware caused 54% of respondents the most concern.

Employees causing risk through unsafe computing practices and a computer glitch worried 53% of respondents.

Price Action: Cybersecurity firms made gains and losses on Tuesday.

• Telos Corporation TLS fell 3.09% to $3.45.
• Zscaler, Inc. ZS went up 0.37% to $174.15.
• SentinelOne, Inc. S slipped 0.16% to $24.25.
• CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. CRWD declined 1.57% to $288.54.

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Photo: Shutterstock