Companies With Advanced Cybersecurity Performance Deliver Nearly Four Times’ Higher Shareholder Return Than Their Peers, According to Diligent and Bitsight
Companies with advanced cybersecurity performance create 372% higher shareholder return compared to their peers with basic cybersecurity performance, according to a new report from Diligent and Bitsight. The report also reveals that highly regulated industries, such as healthcare and financial services, have the highest cybersecurity ratings, and companies with either a specialized risk committee or audit committee achieve better cybersecurity performance compared to those with neither, with ratings of 710 and 650 respectively.
“These findings show that cybersecurity is not just an IT problem — it is an enterprise risk that has material impact on a company’s near-term performance and long-term health, and one that management and the board needs to be up to speed on,” said Dottie Schindlinger, Executive Director of the Diligent Institute. “With increased pressure from regulators for organizations to demonstrate how they oversee cybersecurity, now is the time for boards and leaders to build their competency around cyber risk.”
“Cybersecurity is no longer about simply mitigating risk, it's now a key indicator of financial performance. Companies must treat cybersecurity as a cornerstone of their business strategy, guided by clear, ambitious benchmarks, and backed by the full support of their boards," added Dr. Homaira Akbari, CEO of AKnowledge Partners, Board of Director member for Banco Santander and Landstar System and member of Bitsight’s Advisory Board.
In the “Cybersecurity, Audit and the Board” report, Diligent and Bitsight analyzed more than 4,000 mid to large-cap companies in public indices globally. Additional findings include:
Companies with measurably stronger cybersecurity performance deliver higher financial performance than their peers
- The average total shareholder return (TSR) for companies with advanced security performance ratings over a five-year and three-year period was 71% and 67%, respectively, while companies in the basic performance range delivered 37% and 14% TSR over the same time frames.
- Companies with a higher number of independent directors are more likely to have advanced security ratings. About 76% of directors on the boards of these companies with advanced security ratings are independent, compared to 66% in the basic security performance category.
Companies with specialized risk or audit committees have better cybersecurity performance
- The median cybersecurity rating for companies with specialized risk committees is 730, compared to 720 for companies with just audit committees, indicating there is not a significant difference in the ability of the audit committee to oversee cyber risk compared to a specialized risk committee.
- Having a cybersecurity expert on the general board is not enough – those experts need to be directly involved with cyber oversight. Companies with cybersecurity experts on either audit or specialized risk committees achieve an average security performance rating of 700, whereas companies with cybersecurity experts on the general board, but not on either committee attain a security rating of 580.
Highly regulated industries outperform other industries in cybersecurity performance
- The healthcare sector had the highest average security ratings overall at 730. Of the companies with advanced security performance ratings, 33% came from the financial services sector, with an average rating of 720.
- By comparison, 24% of companies with basic security performance ratings came from the industrials sector, and the sector with the lowest overall performance rating was the communications sector, at 630.
"The research shows that market leading companies that prioritize cyber risk management outperform their peers,” said Derek Vadala, Chief Risk Officer, Bitsight. “This cannot be achieved without a strong understanding of cybersecurity performance and clear benchmarks shared across the executive team and board. The role of the CISO has shifted. Cyber risk is a key component of business performance."
Learn more about how to get certified to oversee cyber risk here. For more information on how Diligent and Bitsight partner to give directors access to market-leading cyber risk data and insights, visit here.
View the full report here.
Methodology
Analyses consists of 4,149 mid to large-cap companies in public indices across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Diligent correlated each company’s cyber oversight structure with their corresponding security performance data, obtained from Bitsight. The correlation method involved averaging the ratings within each category to identify discernible patterns. Bitsight creates cybersecurity ratings based on externally observable measurements of an organization’s security posture. View a full report methodology here.
About Diligent
Diligent is the leading GRC SaaS company, empowering more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members and leaders to make better decisions, faster. The Diligent One Platform helps organizations connect their entire GRC practice — including governance, risk, compliance, audit and ESG — to bring clarity to complex risk, stay ahead of regulatory changes and deliver impactful insights, in one consolidated view. Learn more at diligent.com.
Follow Diligent on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
About Bitsight
Bitsight is a global cyber risk management leader transforming how organizations manage exposure, performance, and risk for themselves and their third parties. Companies rely on Bitsight to prioritize their cybersecurity investments, build greater trust within their ecosystem, and reduce their chances of financial loss. Built on over a decade of market-leading innovation, Bitsight’s integrated solutions deliver value across enterprise security performance, digital supply chains, cyber insurance and data analysis. For more information, visit bitsight.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326307541/en/
Contact information
Julia Hanbury
Senior Communications Manager, Diligent
Jhanbury@diligent.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Daiichi Sankyo Shines a Light on Inequalities and Unmet Needs in Care as Part of Its Commitment to People With Cardiovascular Disease31.8.2024 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Daiichi Sankyo Europe, (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) today announced its reinforced commitment to addressing key unmet needs and barriers in cardiovascular (CV) care, by shining a light on inequalities in treatment and outcomes experienced by various patient groups. The announcement follows the presentation of data from sub-analyses of the SANTORINI observational study and ETNA-AF (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice in patients with nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation) study programme, at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024. Gender inequalities in CV disease treatment and LDL-C goal attainment Raised low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a key modifiable contributor to risk of cardiovascular major events. It has been shown that for every 1 mmol/L reduction in LDL-C, there is a 22% reduction in major cardiovascular events after 1 year.7,8 Female patients in Europe who are at high or very high CV risk were undertreated and less achieved guideline-recomm
Suzano completes purchase of 15% stake in Lenzing AG31.8.2024 01:40:00 EEST | Press release
Suzano, the world's largest pulp producer, today announces the completion of its acquisition of a 15% stake in Lenzing AG, the Vienna-listed leading global supplier of sustainable premium cellulosic fibres for the textile and non-wovens industry, from B&C Group. As announced in June this year, the transaction value is EUR 230 million (or EUR 39.70 per share). The agreement was subject to regulatory approval, which was granted without restrictions. The long-term partnership between Suzano and B&C Group establishes that Suzano has the right to hold two seats on Lenzing’s Board and the option to acquire an additional 15% stake from B&C Group until the end of 2028. Following the sale of the 15% stake, B&C Group now holds 37.25% of Lenzing’s share capital. Lenzing is a leading global supplier of premium wood-based cellulosic fibers (lyocell, modal, and viscose) for the production of clothing, home textiles, hygiene products, and non-woven materials. Beto Abreu, CEO of Suzano, said: “Lenzing
Ant International Collaborates with Brazilian Partners to Drive Financial Inclusion with Innovative Credit Tech Solutions30.8.2024 21:46:00 EEST | Press release
Ant International, a digital payment and financial technology leader, today announced its strategic initiative to provide AI-driven credit technology solutions designed to empower local partners and advance financial inclusions in Brazil. As a major milestone, Ant International has formed a strategic partnership with Dock, a leader in payments and banking technology in Latin America. This collaboration aims to enhance the credit management capability and infrastructure efficiency for Dock’s clients, which include financial institutions, retailers, fintech start-ups, etc. The shared vision is to make credit services more inclusive for market segments that are currently insufficiently served, such as micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In the initial phase of the collaboration, Ant International’s AI-driven credit tech solutions, including an automated and intelligent risk management engine, will be explored for integration into Dock One platform. This initiative aims to s
Wipro Appoints Srikumar Rao as Global Head of Its Engineering Edge Business Line30.8.2024 17:20:00 EEST | Press release
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading technology services and consulting company, today announced the appointment of Srikumar Rao as Global Head of its Engineering Edge Business Line, effective from October 5, 2024. Srikumar succeeds Harmeet Chauhan, who is stepping down to pursue opportunities outside the organization. Srikumar will report to Srini Pallia. Srikumar has been with Wipro for 26 years and has grown with the organization, serving in various leadership roles. He was most recently the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Wipro Engineering Edge (WEE) and Global Practice Head of Embedded Systems. His work has spanned several markets, selling and delivering specialized Engineering, Research, and Development (ER&D) services to Software & Internet, Semiconductor, Automotive, Manufacturing, and Communications clients. In his new role, Srikumar will continue to scale and strengthen Wipro’s engineering prowess. He will also be responsible for defining the vision
Alnylam Presents Detailed Results from the Positive HELIOS-B Phase 3 Study of Vutrisiran▼ in Patients with ATTR Amyloidosis with Cardiomyopathy at the European Society of Cardiology Congress30.8.2024 13:00:00 EEST | Press release
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced detailed results from the HELIOS-B Phase 3 study of vutrisiran, an investigational RNAi therapeutic in development for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). The data were presented today in a Hot Line session at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024, taking place August 30-September 2 in London, United Kingdom. Results from the HELIOS-B study were also simultaneously published in TheNew England Journal of Medicine. As previously reported, the HELIOS-B study met all 10 of its primary and secondary endpoints, across both the overall and monotherapy populations, with statistical significance. Enrolled patients were predominantly New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class I or II with wild-type disease and had been diagnosed by non-invasive methods, with substantial concurrent treatment with available standard of care treatments such as tafamidis and
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom