Which packaged goods companies are leading the way in cybersecurity? – data

The assessment comes from GlobalData’s ‘Thematic Research’ ecosystem, which ranks companies on a scale of one to five, based on their likelihood of being able to tackle challenges like cybersecurity and emerge successfully in the long term in the packaged goods sector.

According to the analysis, P&G advertised for 228 new cybersecurity-related positions in the 12 months of 2021 and mentioned the term ‘cybersecurity’ in its filings 14 times. Nestle, meanwhile, indicated good levels of investment in the area, with the company looking for 127 cybersecurity hires last year and mentioning the term twice in filings.

The table below shows how GlobalData scored the biggest companies in packaged goods on their cybersecurity performance, as well as the number of new cybersecurity jobs, deals, patents and mentions in company reports in 2021.

The far-right column represents the overall score given to a company for its current cybersecurity rating relative to its peers. A score of five indicates that a company is a dominant player in this area, while companies that score less than three are vulnerable to being left behind.

The other datapoints are more nuanced, showcasing recent cybersecurity investment across a range of areas last year.

While these latter metrics can indicate whether cybersecurity is top of executives’ minds now, high numbers in these fields are just as likely to represent attempts to catch up as they are to show genuine strength in cybersecurity.

A high number of mentions of cybersecurity in quarterly filings, for example, could indicate either the company is reaping the rewards of previous investments or needs to invest more to catch up with the rest of the industry. Similarly, a high number of deals could indicate a company is dominating the market, or that it is using M&A to plug gaps in its capabilities.

This article is based on GlobalData research figures as of 13 January 2022. Click here for more up-to-date figures.