Brían Gartlan, Risk and Advisory Services Partner spoke to Sean Pollock, Business Reporter for the Irish Independent about BDO’s 2022 Global Risk Landscape Report.
Tightening up cybersecurity amid the current economic and geopolitical uncertainty is becoming more and more important for Irish firms according to BDO in Ireland.
Brían Gartlan, who leads the Risk and Advisory Services team for professional services firm BDO in Ireland, was speaking ahead of the Irish launch of its Global Risk Landscape Report for 2022.
Brían said with geopolitical uncertainty and Russia’s war in Ukraine, cybersecurity was “now very much top of the list”. BDO has been busy working with Irish clients, he said, to help them bulk up cybersecurity amid heightened risks.
Despite this, 42% of respondents to BDO’s global report said cyber attacks was one of the top risks they were unprepared for. Brían felt this was “surprising”.
“There is so much information about taking cyber threats seriously, yet almost half of respondents don’t feel prepared”.
He warned sectors considered as high value in Ireland are among those being actively targeted.
“People may be surprised to hear we found that manufacturing is now the most heavily targeted industry for cyber attacks at 23%,” he said. “This means it has taken over from financial services. From an Irish context, Ireland is home to some very high-value manufacturing, from pharmaceuticals and electronics. So, we need to ensure that it is adequately prepared.”
BDO found only 42% of European respondents had ramped up their cybersecurity to mitigate supply-side risks from Russia’s war in Ukraine. This is compared to 51% globally.
Outside of cybersecurity, in Brían’s view, there has been a big focus among business leaders here on geopolitical tensions and supply chain bottlenecks.
The report also found that 57% of European respondents believed supply chain disruption would last from one to two years. He said it echoed the view of Irish clients, who feel supply chains won’t be a short-term problem.
Download the full report to find out:
- How businesses are adapting their risk management frameworks to meet new challenges
- The importance of the role of the Chief Risk Officer in businesses worldwide
- Why supply chain transparency is becoming crucial to success
- How business leaders assess supply chain risks like conflict and the climate crisis
BDO have prepared four regional risk white papers that explore the differing business risks and attitudes to risk for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Americas and APAC regions.
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