According to KPMG’s CEO Outlook 2017 report, CEOs in the UK feel investment in cyber security is a revenue opportunity rather than an expensive burden.

As part of the report, 150 UK CEOs were questioned about their future investment plans and the issues affecting their business, which found that rather than an overhead cost, 70% of leaders see investment in cyber security as an opportunity to find new revenue streams and innovate.

The report also found that 77% of CEOs agreed with the statement: ‘I am personally comfortable with the degree to which mitigating cyber risk is now part of my leadership role.’

UK head of cyber security at KPMG, Paul Taylor, said: “It’s great that business leaders are finally seeing cyber security investment as a positive figure on the balance sheet rather than a negative one.”

Business leaders also announced that they are not “fully prepared” for a cyber event like an employee-led business data theft or data breach, with only 52% of report participants saying they are “fully prepared” for both eventualities.

“With recent high profile attacks like Wannacry hitting the press, cyber security should be on every CEO’s radar. Businesses now need to match their investment in innovative technology with their investment into cyber security, in order to stay one step ahead of cyber criminals,” concluded Taylor.

Written from press release by Leah Alger