Two questions to all Risk and Resilience professionals:
- Do you believe that an organization will be hit by a ransomware attack today?
- Do you believe YOUR organization will be hit by a ransomware attack today?
If you answered yes to the first question, and no to the second, then you’re probably sitting alongside about 80% of the population who is invariably living with what we call optimism bias.
Optimism Bias in Risk and Resilience
Optimism bias is essentially a cognitive disposition whereby, you may believe bad things could happen, you don’t necessarily think that they’re going to happen to you.
Circling back to the two questions above. Let’s say you believe a ransomware attack could happen to any organization. This probably means you’ve looked at a whole host of data. You know that the Australian Centre of cybersecurity had over 500 reported ransomware incidents in 2021. So yes, the data tells you that a ransomware attack on an organization is likely.
BUT, on the flip side, you believe the chances of a ransomware attack on your organization is unlikely. Hello optimism bias.
How does this impact the Risk and Resilience function?
Optimism bias is such an important factor to understand and overcome in risk and resilience because it has become one of the greatest challenges that industry professionals face daily. It’s important to have the ability to break down optimism bias and change people’s minds that bad things could happen. Managed well, the outcome is a higher level of risk awareness, driving investment into risk mitigation, preparedness and response strategies.
How do we break down optimism bias? Through engagement.
Watch the full presentation to learn why engagement is the critical ingredient in breaking down optimism bias to transform your risk and resilience program
Duration: 50 minutes
Enjoy the replay. Click here to learn more about how iluminr microsimulations can help you break down optimism bias and build engagement in your risk and resilience program.
Speaker
Marcus Vaughan
Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer @Catalyst Technologies
Marcus is a Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Catalyst Technologies’ – the company behind iluminr. Working in the Risk and Resilience fields for over a decade, Marcus has an array of experience in working with organizations across all industry sectors to drive awareness and engagement in risk and resilience programs. Passionate about resilience and technology, Marcus is constantly collaborating with thought leaders both locally and abroad to innovate and drive the resilience discipline forward.
