Retailers report issues in cybersecurity, supply chain
A new survey reveals weak spots in the retail enterprise.
According to the "2024 Futures Report: Cyber Resilience in Retail" from managed network security services provider LevelBlue, 37% of surveyed C-suite and senior retail executives integrate cybersecurity into their computing planning or have a cybersecurity budget line item for every project.
In addition, three-in-four (74%) respondents said that cybersecurity resilience initiatives are not sufficiently factored into the organization’s budget, and 74% also said that it’s impossible for them to assess how an attack might impact their organization.
More than seven-in-10 (72%) respondents believe cybersecurity is an afterthought and two in three (67%) said efforts are often siloed, hindering comprehensive protection. Roughly two-in-three (65%) lack formalized incident response plans, and 62% do not have standardized cybersecurity processes.
Eight-in-10 respondents said their organizations are at risk due to barriers impacting their cybersecurity resilience strategies, and 78% report struggling to find the external guidance they need.
However, 74% said their lack of visibility is compounded by new regulations. More than six-in-10 (62%) respondents report being a cautious or late AI adopter.
[READ MORE: Study: New technology leading to increase in fraud]
Supply chain issues
The survey also examined the state of the retail supply chain and uncovered several widespread concerns, including:
- Three-in-four respondents said there is a significant lack of visibility of the supply chain.
- Two-in-three (67%) respondents revealed difficulty in assessing supply chain risk.
- Slightly more than one-in-three (36%) respondents said that their supply chain is completely or almost completely secure.
“As traditional perimeters dissolve, traditional security methods no longer suffice, and retailer leaders need to be thinking broadly about overall cyber resilience," said Theresa Lanowitz, chief evangelist of LevelBlue. "They need to be concerned with establishing visibility into the entire IT estate and protecting the whole organization, including supply chains and meeting the demands of customer data privacy."
This research is based on a quantitative survey that was carried out by FT Longitude in March 2024. There were a total of 1,050 C-suite and senior executives surveyed across 18 countries including the U.S. and seven industries including retail.
