Cybersecurity risk seen as biggest threat to the employee reward and incentives sector, reveals new research

New research from Intertrust reveals that 80% of employee reward and incentive professionals believe cybersecurity is the biggest challenge facing their industry.

Employee reward and incentive systems share high volumes of data with third parties via portals and tech platforms that overlay each other. The risk that systems are hacked and suffer data breaches is a big concern, as is compliance with data protection laws that govern where employees’ personal data is stored.

Shortage of skilled staff or inability to recruit tech talent as well as major IT failures were identified as other causes for concern by 10% of respondents.

Around 42% of professionals responding to Intertrust’s survey admit that firms are most exposed to skills shortages in the areas of cybersecurity and RegTech. This is followed by data analytics (37%), artificial intelligence (32%), blockchain (21%) and general coding (11%).

However, despite the skills gap created by emerging technologies, almost half (47%) of respondents claim to be in the process of recruiting new tech talent at a senior level with plans to increase training for existing staff.  A further 79% believe that organisations in their sector will create more senior C-Level technology director roles with a mandate to drive strategic change.

Shane Hugill, Head of Performance & Reward Management at Intertrust said, “Our research suggests that the industry recognises the importance of embracing technology innovation, which is encouraging.

“However, many firms admit they are still behind the curve when it comes to attracting tech talent. The nature of the industry means we are extremely vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, so firms would be well advised to seek third party guidance when finding the best ways to plug the tech skills gap; either through recruitment or more efficient outsourcing to a trusted provider.”

Theo Splinter, Chief Operating Officer at Intertrust added: “The cyber stakes have changed for the industry and understanding the widening range of technology vulnerabilities and the potential financial impact of cyber loss should be at the heart of an organisation’s strategic approach to cyber risk management in today’s evolving digital landscape”.

To read the full findings from the employee reward and incentive professionals, please click here.