Chinese companies gearing up for a cyber-ready future

2023 Global Digital Trust Insights Survey – China report

As we continue to see the global migration towards a more digital economy. With widespread digitalisation, organisations need to further develop their cybersecurity capabilities to reduce their cyber vulnerabilities while preventing or mitigating cyber risks.

Organisations navigate both new technologies and stricter regulations, there is a heightened focus on cybersecurity. They can’t afford to be at the centre of a data breach scandal and lose their goodwill. The results of our 2023 Digital Trust Insights Survey lay out how organisations are addressing the need for more comprehensive cybersecurity to satisfy both customers and regulators.

Cybersecurity maturity and threat from competitors

Chinese and international organisations alike were impacted by an increase in their exposure to cyberattacks due to the acceleration of digitisation since 2020, whether it be from cloud migration, the move to e-commerce and digital service delivery methods, the convergence of IT and operational technology, or the use of digital currencies for other global organisations, among others. Mainland China perceives an increase in external demand for disclosures of cyber incidents and practices, especially as the current law calls for disclosure and transparency in cyber incident response and breach management by domestic corporations. At the same time, Hong Kong and global executives saw more challenges in the quality of internal reporting for their organisation’s cyber exposure.

Cybersecurity disclosure plays a critical role in organisations’ approach

As the digital economy grows further, governments across the world are constantly trying to keep up with new developments and implement regulations to protect the public. Regulations such as the US’ Cybersecurity Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructures Act of 2022 requires companies to report significant cyber incidents while providing incentives for reporting. China also has its own Cybersecurity Law which includes mandatory reporting for breaches as well as penalties for compliance failures.

86% of Chinese organisations can provide the required information about a material or significant incident within the required reporting period after the incident

Cybersecurity resilience needs to be fortified

Over the years, cybersecurity has become a dynamic field – rapidly shifting to keep pace with innovative business practices. As an integral part of operations, businesses need to ensure they have enough cybersecurity resilience to manage unexpected problems. Without resilience, cyber incidents can derail most, if not all, plans for business success, leading to financial losses, reputational damage and loss of trust.

Businesses are already building cybersecurity resilience – their continuous effort, as guided by China’s cybersecurity regulations, are paying off.

86% of Chinese executives indicated that, they have improved operational technology security

84% of Chinese executives indicated that, there are increased value and efficiency of cyber resources , and orchestrated cross-functional effort to comply with new regulations (84%). Over 77% of Chinese organisations saw these accomplishments, higher than the global level.

Taking ownership of cybersecurity transformation

Business leaders have an important role to play in ensuring their organisation adopts a heightened security position. In an ever-changing world, senior executives need to take ownership of their cybersecurity transformation, enabling organisations to rapidly identify and reduce cyber risk while confidently adopting new digital technologies that support their strategic goals.

	China	Global
1	Strengthening our data analytics capabilities on cyber and privacy activities	Ensuring all non-cybersecurity employees understand the potential cyber implications of their actions
2	Consolidating enterprise technology solutions for a simpler tech stack / infrastructure	Strengthening our data analytics capabilities on cyber and privacy activities
3	Leadership that drives cybersecurity throughout the organisation	Leadership that drives cybersecurity throughout the organisation