Risk managers are leaving information assets exposed

Information technology assets are vastly over-exposed to risk when compared to property assets, according to a new report by the Ponemon Institute.

In a study of more than 500 companies across Asia-Pacific, it was found that companies are only protecting 13% of their information assets compared to 49% of tangible property assets.

This is despite information technology assets often being as valuable as property assets, the 2015 Asia Pacific Cyber Impact Report said.

Ponemon Institute chairman and founder Dr. Larry Ponemon said: “The perception of the risk is interesting. It’s clear that there is a risk and losses can be anticipated, but organisations are not insuring against the risk.”

But that looks set to change.

According to the report, some 55% of companies are planning to buy cyber insurance in the future, up from just 12% who currently have a standalone cyber policy.

“This report substantiates a risk manager’s initiatives for how they allocate resources and where they focus,” Ponemon said.

Aon Risk Solutions head of financial specialties, Asia, Murray Wood said the report should act as a roadmap for risk managers, and help them take a broader look at their organisation’s overall risk profile.

“The explosion of cloud computing, mobile devices, Big Data analytics and the internet is creating enterprise risk management issues that are rapidly growing with the increased use of information assets and technology. Companies large and small are advised to consider cyber threats in this perspective.”

The report also found that the business interruption risk from information technology assets is 72% greater than property assets.

A further 27% of companies surveyed said they had experienced a material or significantly disruptive security exploit or data breach at least once during the past two years and the average economic impact of the event was $1.5m.