Boards Ramp Up Investment in Data Privacy and Security in Rush to Become GDPR Compliant and Avoid Data Breaches, Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey Finds

PR73865

LONDON, June 6, 2018 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Cyber crime threats reach all-time high  

- Only a fifth of world's IT leaders are well prepared for a cyber attack   

- Over a third of organizations were GDPR non-compliant  

Boards ramp up investment in data security and privacy in the rush to become

GDPR compliant and to avoid highly damaging data breaches which have reached an

all-time high, reports the 2018 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey.

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The largest IT leadership survey in the world, analyzing responses from

organizations with a combined annual cyber security spend of up to US$46bn,

found almost a quarter (23 percent) more respondents than in 2017 are

prioritizing improvements in cyber security as cyber crime threats reach an

all-time high, while managing operational risk and compliance has also become a

significantly increased priority (up 12 percent). These two areas represent the

fastest growing IT priorities of company boards.

IT leaders today face the challenging task of delivering rich, customer-centric

data in an environment laden with risk. Data trust and privacy threats continue

to hold the attention of CIOs, but while measures to improve data security are

underway within companies and through legislation such as GDPR, over a third

(38 percent) of those surveyed in April expected they would not be GDPR

compliant at the deadline. Additionally, 77 percent of IT leaders are 'most

concerned' about the threat of organized cyber crime, up from 71 percent last

year. Only one fifth (22 percent) state they are well-prepared for a cyber

attack.

The survey found that trust is the new battleground for IT, as organizations

delicately balance the revenue-driving potential of utilizing customer data

with the need for privacy and security. Those businesses managing this balance

most effectively (customer-centric organizations) are 38 percent more likely to

report greater profitability than their competitors. However, the drive towards

protecting data has caused a huge demand for 'security and resilience' skills,

which experienced the biggest jump in skills shortages, increasing 25 percent

year-on-year.

Read full press release here . For more information about the survey and to

request a full copy of the results, please visit http://www.hnkpmgciosurvey.com.

Media Contacts:

Michelle Smith

Harvey Nash

michelle.smith@harveynash.com

+44(20)7333-2677

Amy Greenshields

KPMG International

+1-416-777-8749

amygreenshields@kpmg.ca

Source: Harvey Nash and KPMG