One in five companies ill-prepared for attacks

More than one-fifth (21 percent) of all participants surveyed at the "Handelsblatt Annual Conference on Cybersecurity 2021" stated that their own company was "rather poorly" prepared for a targeted cyberattack. The survey was conducted during the event by the Handelsblatt Research Institute on behalf of TeamViewer among the approximately 200 high-profile IT decision-makers in attendance. 

Increased attack surface

Almost half (45 percent) of respondents said their company had had to respond to a cyberattack in the last 24 months. 52 percent also see an increased need for action due to the shift to hybrid working models and the associated greatly or very greatly increased attack surface for cyberattacks, for example when employees work outside the company network.

In the view of IT decision-makers, employees remain the most important gateway overall: 81 percent of respondents named social engineering as the most relevant access route for cyberattacks. Particularly with regard to remote work models, it is therefore becoming even more important for companies to protect their own infrastructure and corporate resources against such attacks - for example, by assigning separate roles and rights - in addition to regular employee training.

Great importance

Despite these challenges, security experts remain optimistic. Nine out of ten (91 percent) survey participants say that the level of cybersecurity in their company has improved over the last year. Mike Eissele, CTO at TeamViewer, comments, "The survey shows the importance of cybersecurity across industries, and that innovations in this environment must also take into account the users at the devices. IT and product security are part of our TeamViewer DNA. In product development, we follow a security-by-design approach where remote connectivity and cybersecurity are always thought of together. With our end-to-end encrypted connections and comprehensive security features such as conditional access, companies can centrally manage the access rights of their employees and are at the same time armed against attacks from outside."