Keeping a grip on cyber risk, regulation increasingly challenging

Forecasting critical risks is becoming increasingly more difficult, according to the 13th annual “Excellence in Risk Management” report released Monday by Marsh L.L.C. and the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc.

When asked how difficult forecasting critical risks is compared to three years ago, 32% of respondents in “Emerging Risks: Anticipating Threats and Opportunities Around the Corner” said it was more difficult, and 4% said that it was significantly more difficult, while 36% said it was the same, 26% said it was easier and 2% said it was significantly easier.

But when asked whether predicting critical risks would be easier or more difficult three years from now, 40% said it would be more difficult, 8% said it would be significantly more difficult, while only 26% said it would be the same, 21% said it would be easier and 5% said it would be significantly easier.

When asked which areas from which they thought the next critical risks for their organization would emerge, 61% of the respondents said cyber attacks, 58% said regulation and 40% said talent availability. When asked in what time frame the next critical risks would impact their organizations, 79% said that cyber attacks were already a significant concern. 71% said regulations already presented a significant concern and 53% said talent availability was already a significant concern.

Growing interconnectedness “creates an environment where keeping up with evolving issues becomes more difficult,” the report said.

“Therefore success in risk management now often comes to organizations that develop a multidimensional approach to identifying and managing complex risks. These organizations are able to not only see the risk around the corner but to understand that it may interact in not-so-predictable ways with existing risks.”

The report is based on more than 700 responses to an online survey and a series of focus groups with leading risk executives conducted by Marsh and RIMS in January and February of this year.