Of all the risks facing businesses throughout the world – from political unrest and trade conflicts to having their reputations sullied on social media – data security vulnerabilities continue to be a dominant concern, according to a new survey of senior executives for international companies. 

The 11th annual Global Fraud and Risk Report from New York-based consulting firm Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps, highlights the ever-changing challenges that companies face in protecting valuable data. 

In the U.S., 73% of respondents viewed data theft as their top security risk, which was in line with most other countries except China, where 94% of execs in the survey cited data theft, primarily intellectual property theft, and internal leaks as their biggest concerns. 

"China's emergence as a critical link in the global value chain has made organisations there prime targets for a variety of threats," the report states.

The majority of the nearly 600 execs in the online survey, which was conducted in March and April, reported that leaks of internal data had significantly affected their organisations during the past year. More than half of the companies in the report have at least $1 billion in annual revenue and nearly all operate in more than one country.

Unsurprisingly, employees are to blame for a large portion for the risk-related headaches, according to the report. They were responsible for 45% of internal fraud, 44% of internal leaks, 27% of bribery and corruption cases and 26% of incidents in which a company's reputation was damaged. 

Internal audits seem to be the most effective way to uncover internal leaks and employee fraud, the report found. But when it comes to detecting bribery and corruption, whistleblowers were nearly as effective as internal audits. Cybersecurity, data analytics and compliance programmes were highlighted as the best ways to reveal threats before an incident occurred.

As threats have evolved alongside technology, such as artificial intelligence, so too has the role of executives and general counsel, noted Alan Brill, a senior managing director in Kroll's cyber risk practice, who contributed to the report.

Brill said company leaders have recognised that "part of their basic responsibility is tied up in the technology and that if they don't have a means of carrying out reasonable oversight of that technology, there's a real problem".

He added: "Corporate counsel getting involved represents something of an early warning system to raise concerns not only about the legal system where the technology is being developed but where it is going to be used." 

Other findings from the report include:

• 90% of business leaders in the survey were worried that large-scale, coordinated cyberattacks would threaten global economic stability.
• 72% of U.S.-based respondents said a financial crisis was their top risk concern for the future. Respondents in the U.S. also were more concerned about geopolitical risks, tariffs and trade conflicts than most of their international counterparts. 
• In the U.K., where the Brexit drama continues to unfold, 75% of respondents cited political instability as a top future concern.