A new report published by international law firm CMS suggests the media industry is underprepared in protecting itself against current and future technology risks, such as migration or the increased use of cloud services.
Across 75 respondents in the media sector, CMS found fewer media companies report having policies to manage IP rights (56 per cent against 61 per cent for all sectors), crisis management plans for technology failures (63 per cent against 71 per cent for all sectors) and to manage cyber breaches (41 per cent against 54 per cent for all sectors).
The study also stated that the expected future risks are different to those media firms currently face. The media sector is currently most concerned with risks around the performance of IT suppliers (64%), compliance and regulatory issues (61%) and claims related to personal data breaches (57%).
Risks that media firms expect to see in the future include intellectual property issues and breach of business secrets (61%), issues arising from smart contracts (60%) and concerns arising from migration or the increased use of cloud services (49%).
While media companies are broadly in line with the cross-sector picture when considering barriers to reducing tech risks, three barriers stand out and all are “cultural”, said the report. First, overall resistance to change is the leading barrier to reducing tech risks (67% against 54% for all sectors), followed by a lack of operational knowledge (55% against 41% for all sectors) and a lack of employee engagement (49% against 39% for all sectors).
Sheena Jacob, technology and intellectual property partner at CMS, said: “The data suggests a certain degree of reluctance around the protection of core business assets within the media sector. For companies that place digital at the heart of their business models, this is a critical reminder for media firms to ensure that they have the right policies, staff and equipment in place to deal with technological compliance risks.”
The full report is available here.
