Security threats are more pressing than ever for business leaders, with cloud worries taking top spot

1 October 2024, 16:40 published

C-suite executives have never been as worried about cybersecurity matters as they are today, new research has claimed – but at the same time, their organizations have never been as ill-prepared to face the vast myriad of threats as they are today.

Data from “Bridging the gaps to cyber resilience: The C-suite playbook”, recently published by PwC based on a 2025 Global Digital Trust Insights survey of more than 4,000 business and tech execs across 77 countries, found cloud-related issues are the most pressing matter among the majority of the respondents.

In fact, nearly half (42%) of executives ranked cloud-related threats as their number one worry. Ironically enough, cloud-related cyber-threats are also the ones these firms are least prepared to address, as confirmed by 34% of the respondents.

Notifying the users

Cloud-related issues are closely followed by hack-and-leak operations, mentioned by 38% of the respondents. A quarter (25%) named these threats as the ones they were least prepared to address. Finally, the top three are rounded off with third-party breaches, mentioned by 35% of the respondents as their biggest worry. For more than a quarter (28%), this is also the problem they are least prepared to address.

Among all of the C-suite, one position stands out with a somewhat different outlook – the Chief Information Security Officer.

For almost half of CISOs (42%), ransomware is firmly placed in the top three most worrisome cyberattacks, and also the one they’re most unprepared to tackle. Overall, ransomware was listed as only the fifth most worrisome matter (27% and 25% respectively).

“While the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, organizations are struggling with increasingly volatile and unpredictable threats,” PwC says in the report. “An panding attack surface – spurred by growing reliance on cloud, AI, connected devices, and third parties – demands an agile, enterprise-wide approach to resilience. Aligning organizational priorities and readiness is essential for maintaining security and business continuity.”

Via The Register