Unfortunately, this ranking shows a partial reality of our country. In this context, it is important to point out that in Chile only 80% of large companies have dedicated cybersecurity teams, a figure that decreases to 30% in the case of SMEs (according to IT Hunter International), a situation that is worrying since ransomware attacks alone increased by 300% in 2023, mainly affecting banks, insurance companies and telecommunications companies, which indirectly affect people and their credibility in terms of how our information is being handled.
It is key for companies to understand the depth of this situation, and that information security must be part of the decisions made by boards of directors and senior management, because in companies that are attacked and do not have a plan to deal with this type of event, the trust of their customers is considerably reduced.
On the other hand, Chile is one of the most advanced countries in terms of transactions, online payments, banking and personal information, it is a leader in Latin America in business development and electronic transactions. Without going any further, our authorities are working on the regulation that establishes the Open Finance System (SFA) of the Fintech Law, which will open business opportunities, but at the same time requires a joint security work, where the public and private sectors must contribute to ensure the personal and financial information of all.
That said, it is important that companies are prepared for what is coming, this should be from the Governance (senior management and boards) and finance (budgets), on the other hand, at the specialized level the preparation of equipment and tools are the basis for starting this path, as well as preparations of cyber-attack exercises and continuity plans that allow us to minimize the risks to these cyber-attacks that year after year are growing.
