Irish cyber risk readiness trails the rest of the world

Here's what the new study revealed

While globally, 41% of people consider cybersecurity to be fully built into their risk management, that figure is only 17 per cent in Ireland.

The survey, in which Irish respondents also took part, questioned 4,000 business and technology executives across 71 countries.

Elsewhere the gap widened, as only 23% of Irish respondents said their employer regularly ran incident response exercises.

That stands at 41 per cent worldwide.

Irish executives were also notably wary of handing cyber defence to AI.

That unease has shown up elsewhere too, as Irish MEPs recently wrote to the Health Minister after AI chatbots referring women in crisis to anti-abortion websites came to light.

Why Irish cyber risk strategy still lags

According to PwC Ireland cybersecurity and privacy partner, Leonard McAuliffe, preparation for cyber risk "needs to become a business capability."

Organisations are racing to capture value from AI but many remain underprepared, he said.

He further added that those that get it right "will be better positioned to innovate with confidence while continuing to operate through disruption."

The latest findings come amid other survey data, which paints a mixed picture of confidence in the country.

As they seek a better quality of life, a separate poll found seven in ten young adults are considering leaving Ireland.

What the PwC cyber risk survey found

As per the survey, six per cent of Irish respondents would let AI agents act fully autonomously on cyber defence, against 22 per cent globally.

Meanwhile, only 34 per cent rank AI-enabled attacks as a spending priority, against 46 per cent worldwide.

What is more, the PwC findings also flagged quantum computing as a looming blind spot.

Globally, 29 per cent of firms say they are least prepared for it. Encryption could come under pressure as early as the 2030s.

According to the Irish Times, Irish respondents lag behind on that front too.