Over three-quarters of Canadian firms prioritize cyber risk mitigation

Over three-quarters of Canadian firms prioritize cyber risk mitigation | Insurance Business Canada

Cyber

Over three-quarters of Canadian firms prioritize cyber risk mitigation

Percentage higher compared to North American and global figures

Cyber

By
Terry Gangcuangco

A recent report by PwC, the “2025 Digital Trust Insights Survey,” provides a global snapshot of how business and technology leaders view the evolving cybersecurity landscape. The survey gathered input from over 4,000 participants across 77 territories.

A look at the Canadian findings shows that businesses in Canada are more focused on mitigating cyber risks compared to their North American and global counterparts.

According to the poll results, 77% of Canadian respondents see cyber risk mitigation as a priority over the next year, while only 61% in North America as a whole and 57% globally do so.

Digital and technology risks follow closely behind, with 61% of Canadian businesses prioritizing them, versus 56% in North America and 53% worldwide.

Despite the focus, Canadian organizations are less confident about addressing the cybersecurity threats they are most worried about. The top concerns include cloud-related threats, third-party breaches, ransomware attacks, and hack-and-leak operations.

For instance, 41% of Canadian businesses reported feeling unprepared for cloud-related threats, compared to a global figure of 34%. A similar trend was seen for third-party breaches (37% versus 28% globally) and ransomware (33% versus 25%).

Meanwhile, the rapid adoption of cloud technologies and generative AI (GenAI) has expanded the cyberattack surface for companies. Over a quarter (27%) of Canadian respondents pointed to cloud technology as a significant factor in the increased exposure, with 22% citing GenAI.

On the financial front, data breaches remain costly for businesses. According to the survey, 15% of Canadian respondents reported a significant breach in the last three years costing between US$1 million and US$9.9 million, lower than North America’s 21% but higher than the global 17%.

Looking ahead, Canadian firms are expecting to allocate more resources to cybersecurity, with 39% anticipating their cybersecurity budgets will increase by up to 5% in 2025, compared to 27% globally.

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