For the first time, cyber risk is a key risk, according to Aon's 2015 Global Risk Management Survey.

Damage to brand and reputation was cited as the top overall concern facing global organizations, further underscoring the increasing importance of cyber risk as it has been regularly linked to brand and reputation issues in the wake of data breaches.

Aon’s global clients strongly felt that damage to brand and reputation ranked as a top concern across almost all regions and industries. This can be attributed to the growing challenges businesses are facing among the risks found in the top 10 list, such as cyber risk, but also including business interruption, property damage and failure to innovate.

The 1,400 survey respondents to the Aon Global Risk Management Survey included CEOs, CFOs and Risk Managers providing comparative insight into different perceptions of risk. Typically, financial and economic risks including commodity price risk, economic slowdown and technology failure were seen as damaging at C-suite level with Risk Managers focused on liability-related risks such as cyber, property damage and third-party liability.

Stephen Cross, Chief Innovation Officer, Aon Risk Solutions said “The insights provided by this survey help us understand how risks are changing as the global environment evolves. It’s little surprise to see cyber risk enter the top 10 at the same time we are seeing increasing concern about corporate reputation as the two issues are a great example of the interconnectivity of risk. What is surprising was the lack of alignment between the Board and the Risk Manager. Such diverse views illustrate how imperative it is that the board of directors have effective and regular communication with risk managers to effectively assess and mitigate the company’s risk exposure.”

The full report can be accessed at http://www.aon.com/2015GlobalRisk/default.jsp