Mumbai:
For the second consecutive year, a survey “Excellence in Risk Management India 2019’’ by Marsh and the US based RIMS, the risk management society, ranked cyber-attacks as the number one critical risk facing their organisations, with extreme weather events a distant second.
The survey report which was released at RIMS India Risk Forum 2019 India in Mumbai on Friday, shows that traditional cyber security strategies and investment continue to lag, despite a clear need for more effective risk management in the country.
More than half of organisations deemed cyber-attack as their number one priority, nearly four times the number prioritising weather events.
Globally, India was the second most affected country when it came to targeted cyber-attacks between 2016-2018, according to Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report.
Some other risks which are identified as a part of Top 10 risks for India Inc are- data fraud or theft, fiscal crises, failure of critical infrastructure, failure of critical infrastructure, failure of climate change adaption, asset bubble, energy price shock, terrorist attacks and failure of urban planning.
Earlier, the World Economic Forum’s recent Regional Risks for Doing Business 2019 report had placed cyber-attacks as the second highest risk concern globally behind fiscal crises.
The number of cyber-attacks continues to increase globally. In India alone, more than 394 million data records have been lost or stolen n publicly disclosed breaches between 2013 and 2018, according to the Gemal to Breach Level Index and Varonis.
That would equal about 4% of the 9.7 billion data records lost globally during that time.
Globally,the repercussions of cyber attacks often extend beyond financial losses and loss of confidential data. Cyber security breaches may also trigger other issues, such as business interruption losses.These threats are further amplified by through the increasing use of Internet of Things (IoT).
Risk management in India is at turning point, faced with an increasingly global.digital and interconnected business environment in which threats and vulnerabilities evolve quickly, says the survey report.
To meet the challenges, risk managers are seeking to expand their knowledge base, hone their skills and access best practices, tools and technologies,suggests the report.
Speaking on “Building a Risk Culture in India'', Nagumantry Roopkumar,executive vice president, chief of risk, information & cyber security SBI Life Insurance Company, said reputaional risk is emerging as one of the key areas of risk management in India where constant vigilance and flow of information among India Inc will play important roles.
Mary Roth, chief executive officer, RIMS, said the US non-profit body, has great deal of plans for developing Indian professionals in the areas of rsk management.
`We have started taking interest in the Indian market recently as our members in US wanted specialised risk management professionals in the country for their operations.We plan to launch a few of our international cousres for Indian professionals fron mext year,'' said Roth.
Meanwhile, RIMS has presented Cognizant Technology Solutions with the 2019 India Enterprise Risk Management Award of Distinction.
Cognizant’s Assistant Vice President & Head – Enterprise Risk Management, K.S. Dinesh, accepted the award on company’s behalf, at RIMS Risk Forum 2019 India in Mumbai.
Cognizant Technology Solutions was awarded for its achievements in developing and implementing ERM strategies that proactively identify risks, enhance mitigation efforts, and help achieve business objectives.
“Cognizant’s ERM program has grown to be a source of competitive advantage for the organization, with valuable support from the leadership team and the Board. It has enabled our business leaders to make swift yet well-informed decisions,” says John Brennan, SVP and Chief Audit Executive – Cognizant, who oversees the ERM program.