Cybersecurity is the top agenda in 6 in 10 boardroom discussions

The topic is discussed every quarter by almost half of the boards.

Large companies in the city have been giving cybersecurity more attention with 62% saying it has become the top agenda item in their boardroom discussions.

Data from Palo Alto Networks revealed that cybersecurity also comes up frequently in board meetings, with 50% discussing the issue every quarter, and some 38% even discussing it monthly.

About 40% of medium to large companies are also moving to increase their cybersecurity budgets for the year in response to growing threats. Almost half of these companies have raised their budget spend by 20%. 

Palo Alto Networks said companies are allocating their budget towards existing security gaps (38%), optimising operations (37%), refinement of crisis response (28%) and addressing the changing threat landscape (28%).

“As businesses continue to accelerate their digital transformation, they must prepare for security breaches. From the study, more business leaders are treating cybersecurity as a strategic business enabler that is the key to long-term success,” said Wickie Fung, managing director, of Hong Kong and Macau, at Palo Alto Networks. 

“As businesses continue to shift to the cloud and hybrid work set to be a mainstay, cybersecurity needs to be integrated with business strategy as an investment to ensure leaders have the security infrastructure to overcome any cyber challenges,” Fung added.