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.'