A major IT outage on July 19, 2024, highlighted the cybersecurity measures that global companies employ to guard against cyber incidents.

The outage was not the result of a cyberattack. Rather, it stemmed from a routine software update by a major US cybersecurity company that conflicted with Microsoft operating systems, leading to widespread disruption.

Cybersecurity is an increasingly important topic in the language industry. A survey conducted by Slator in 2023 for the Association of Language Companies (ALC) showed that just over half of surveyed LSPs had implemented specific mechanisms to detect cybersecurity incidents. 

The survey also found that one in seven language service providers (LSPs) had experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months.

Among survey respondents, close to half of LSPs stated that the company conducts periodic risk assessments with respect to cybersecurity.

Regarding potential future incidents, the majority of LSPs assessed it as “unlikely” or “very unlikely” that they would face a cybersecurity incident in the next 12 months, according to the data, which was collected in September 2023.

However, one in ten LSPs assessed the risk as “almost certain” or “more likely than not”.

The 2024 survey for the ALC is now open, collecting the latest statistics on key topics that matter to the language industry. Click here to take part. The survey closes today, 22 July, 2024.