A study by Cloudflare shows that Belgian companies are concerned about the increase in cyberattacks, although only a limited number are prepared.

39 percent of Belgian companies expect to be the victim of a cyberattack in 2024. Only 27 percent are well prepared for such incidents. This is the result of a Cloudflare study on cyber threats among more than 4,000 cybersecurity managers (CISOs) in thirteen countries, including Belgium.

Expectations and preparations

The research shows that 22 percent of Belgian respondents have experienced a cyberattack in the last twelve months. This percentage is lower than in neighboring countries such as Germany and the Netherlands (both 42%), France (31%) and Italy (25%). The most common attacks in Belgium were against websites (53%), followed by phishing (47%) and DDoS attacks (33%), particularly in the energy and mining, media and telecommunications, and transport sectors.

In addition to the expected increase in attacks, 58 percent of Belgian respondents say they expect an increase in the scale of these attacks. The greatest concerns are among employees in the transport sector, gaming companies and government organizations. Despite these concerns, only 27 percent of companies are well prepared for a cyberattack.

Financial impact

The financial impact of cyberattacks is significant. 75 percent of respondents who have recently experienced an attack estimate the damage to be on average EUR 940,000. Almost a quarter (24%) of these companies even estimate the loss to be around EUR 1.88 million. In addition, 23 percent of affected organizations state that they had to lay off employees due to the economic impact of an attack.

Fortunately, some companies are taking steps to strengthen their cyber resilience. More than half (53%) expect their IT budget for cybersecurity to increase this year. Most of this budget will be invested in network infrastructure, while there is little additional budget available for users and their devices despite the challenges of remote and hybrid working.

Future implementations

Currently, only 8 percent of respondents are implementing a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) model. When it comes to zero-trust architectures, 55 percent say they are still in the early stages of adoption. This is partly because 88 percent of respondents believe that management does not sufficiently understand a zero-trust architecture.

Cloudflare’s research report contains five recommendations to strengthen cyber resilience:

• Simplify security architecture with an integrated “security is everywhere” approach instead of complex partial solutions.
• Invest in consolidated zero-trust solutions and be prepared.
• Create a safety culture and safety awareness throughout the company.
• SASE can accelerate solution preparation and consolidation.
• Optimize data management.

These recommendations can help organizations improve their cyber resilience and be better prepared for future threats.