Half (47%) of businesses reported an increase in the volume of state-sponsored cyber threats over the past year, amid rising geopolitical tension and NCSC warnings.

In recent months, the UK was subject to a Chinese-backed cyber-attack against the tech supplier of the Ministry of Defence, exposing the personal information of up to 270,000 servicemen and women, as well as veterans, including names, addresses and bank account details.

The findings were revealed in Absolute Security’s Cyber Resilience Report 2024, which surveyed 250 UK CISOs at enterprise organisations, via independent polling agency Censuswide.

The survey revealed leaders mounting concerns, especially when it comes to ransomware, as 69% of CISOs expressed that the financial repercussions of a successful attack could cripple their organisation.

While 62% are worried that they could lose their job if their organisation was hit by a major successful cyber-attack.

Ransomware was considered to be the biggest threat to CISOs, with four out of five identifying ransomware as the most significant cyber concern their organisation faces today.

“The volume and sophistication of cyber-attacks will only continue to rise and it’s no surprise to see organisations feeling the effects of state-sponsored threats and ransomware attacks,” said Andy Ward, VP international at Absolute Security.

He added: “It’s no longer enough for security leaders to try and prevent attacks, they need to be able to respond and recover when successful breaches happen.”

“A defence strategy built on cyber resilience can ensure security teams have continuous visibility over networks, devices and applications to detect suspicious behaviour, while providing response protocols to prevent cybercriminals breaching the entirety of a network.

“By focusing on cyber resilience and equipping C-Suite executives with the necessary training, organisations can enhance their defences and maintain operational integrity even amid the current onslaught of cyber threats.”

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To combat threats, 94% of CISOs are focusing more on preventing cyber-threats than on recovery strategies. This proactive approach underscores the critical importance of cyber resilience, which goes beyond traditional cybersecurity measures to ensure organisations can withstand and quickly recover from cyber disruptions and attacks.

The majority (89%) of security leaders labelled mitigating financial loss as the biggest driver behind improving cyber resilience.

As part of building a robust cyber resilience strategy, more than nine in 10 CISOs reported that their C-Suite had participated in cyber resilience training courses.