NEW DELHI: Information & cyber insecurity are considered as the biggest risk in 2017, and there has been an increase in the incidence of cyber-attacks and potential espionage on cyber-security in the recent past.
The FICCI – Pinkerton India Risk Survey 2017 says: 'Information & Cyber Insecurity' has become more pronounced due to the shift that the nation is undergoing towards digitisation of various assets and services being delivered via internet and mobile platforms; and the ever-present loopholes that hackers breach upon’.
The survey consists of 12 risks that pose the most significant threats to business perception and operations in the country. The new age risks are interconnected and overlap across domains, sectors and geographies. New risks have been identified on the basis of this year’s survey, which include: risk of non-compliance, business investment risk and legal regulatory risk.
The survey says ‘The WannaCry malware incident has been, by far, the worst incident this year in which several systems were attacked, both of the public and the private sectors.’ It stressed the need to create robust security mechanism to address cyber-security challenge.
Intellectual Property (IP) theft climbed a level to the tenth rank this time. India’s position in the US Special 301 list does not put India in the most favourable position. On the issues of counterfeit and piracy of films, music and, software, the illegal activities are still prevalent.
‘Terrorism and Insurgency’ risk rising up two spots from its position last year has been ranked as the second biggest threat to businesses in India this year. India has been featured 16 times in Global Terrorism Index in the list of 10 countries most affected by terrorism for the period 2000-2016. Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) perpetrated by communist terrorist groups remains the most severe terrorist threat. The persistent risk posed by ‘Terrorism and Insurgencies’, creates a risk perception in the minds of investors with interest in the Indian market.
The ranking of ‘Corruption, Bribery & Corporate Frauds’ is at number 3 in IRS 2017. As per World Bank’s Doing Business 2017 rankings, India currently stands at 130 out of 189 countries.
Interestingly, there is an overall sense of lowering corruption via regulations such as GST, Demonetisation, Make in India, the Digital India Program. However, the nature of corruption is such that it refuses to be completely removed.
Other risks in that order are: Natural Hazards, Political & Governance Instability. Fire, Strikes, Closures & Unrest, Crime, Business Espionage, Women’s Safety and Accidents.
FICCI secretary-general A Didar Singh said, “Risks to business establishments is detrimental to growth and development of any country. The nature of risks globally has changed enormously, and with their occurrences becoming more unexpected and their effects becoming more profound, risks need to be taken more seriously. In these changing times it is critical to understand emerging risks”
Pinkerton MD – India APAC & EMEA -- global screening Rohit Karnatak added, “The threats faced in today’s dynamic environment requires a more holistic strategic approach and thus emphasizes the urgency to shift from a siloed approach to security management, to one that is more holistic and a more collaborative process of Enterprise Risk Management”.
