The importance of cyber security has grown in recent years as reliance on information technology and the internet has increased. Cyber security issues affect businesses of all sizes and across all sectors. Managing cyber-based risks to individual businesses, as well as the wider economy, also requires many different stakeholders to work together.

'Audit Insights: Cyber Security', the fourth in the Audit Insights series, aims to support informed public debate in this area and help businesses to understand the changing nature of the threats that they face. It is the work of a group of external audit experts from large and medium-sized audit firms with many years’ combined experience of auditing companies. Representatives of the following firms formed the working group of external audit experts: BDO , Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PwC.

This report highlights four areas that external auditors believe are of most interest and relevance to senior management, non-executive directors, investors, policy-makers and other stakeholders.