Within the WEF study, 12,000 business leaders from 127 different countries determined the ‘five global risks’ that they believe to be of most concern for the commercial world over the next ten years.
From these results, here are the top five risks identified for UK businesses:
| Rank | Top risks in 2020 | Top risks in 2019 |
| 1. | Cyber attacks | Cyber attacks |
| 2. | Fiscal crises | Data fraud or theft |
| 3. | Extreme weather | Failure of national governance |
| 4. | Spread of infectious disease | Terrorism |
| 5. | Climate change | Misuse of technology |
Globally, the survey findings discovered that unemployment was by far the most concerning factor.
Infectious disease was unsurprisingly the second most reoccurring risk, appearing on each countries top ten list other than South Asia for 2020.
The managing director of WEF, Saadia Zahindi, says “the employment disruptions caused by the pandemic, rising automation and the transition to greener economies are fundamentally changing labour markets.
As we emerge from the crisis, leaders have a remarkable opportunity to create new jobs, support living wages, and reimagine social safety nets to adequately meet the challenges in the labour markets of tomorrow.”
A recent survey has found that 78% of risk managers are now buying cyber insurance, due to the recent surge in cyberattacks, fake news and scam emails in circulation.
Cyber insurance is no longer a ‘luxury item’ for businesses and is now deemed a necessity to keep scams at bay during this turbulent time.
The current work from home movement is said to be the reason behind this growing concern for cyber safety, due to workplace cyber security software not being present on personal laptops or networks.
Similarly, scammers are targeting home workers, due to it being unlikely that they would be able to liaise with colleagues regarding potentially dangerous emails before they open them.
To protect your business from these cyber-attacks, contact us for a quote today.