Cyber security top risk for audit executives, research suggests

28 Sep 2020

Research published by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (Chartered IIA) has suggested that cyber security is the top corporate risk for audit executives.

79% of audit executives stated that cyber security is a significant risk for their organisation, with 27% singling it out as the number one risk they face.

According to the Institute, the wide-scale shift to homeworking as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic increased the vulnerability of businesses to cyber-attacks. Few businesses had accounted for such upheaval in such a short span of time, the Chartered IIA said.

Commenting on the matter, John Wood, Chief Executive of the Chartered IIA, said: 'COVID-19 has exacerbated existing risks, forcing organisations to think from completely new angles or assign new levels of priority to them.

'Cyber security is a case in point. Though a perennial front-of-mind risk for boards, the rise in remote working means cyber security issues have taken on a new dimension and IT infrastructure has had to adapt in record time.

'The longer-term implications of this exceptional scenario are still unclear, but we should expect disruption to continue into next year and beyond.'