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Financial services, followed by health care, led the way among business sectors in a new survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers on firms' readiness to manage cyber and privacy risks.
Financial services leaders also showed a great concern for cyberattacks from outside state-sponsored actors, the survey revealed.
Of firms undertaking a digital transformation, financial services firms were more likely than average to say that cyber and privacy risk management was baked into the plan from the start, according to the inaugural PwC Digital Trust Insights survey.
The survey and an accompanying report by PwC addressed business sectors' cyber readiness and went on to identify 10 major areas for improvement in the areas centered on technology, processes and people. The initiative surveyed 3,000 business leaders worldwide.
While 55% of respondents said their company was engaged in an enterprise-wide digital transformation project, the number soars to 81% for financial services and to 86% for technology, media and telecommunications companies valued at $100 million or more, according to a footnote in the survey.
"Only about half of medium and large businesses in key sectors say they are building resilience to cyberattacks and other disruptive shocks to a large extent. And fewer than half of them say they are very comfortable their company has adequately tested its resistance to cyberattacks," according to PwC.
In addition to financial services and health care, the survey included the sectors of industrial products; consumer products; technology, media and telecommunications; and energy, mining and utilities.
The 10 major opportunities PwC identified for improvement after the survey include corporate governance actions such as upgrading talent and leadership teams and raising awareness and accountability.
