Jonmichael Moy: Over half of UK businesses have been hit by cyberattacks

Wednesday, 24 April 2019

Over half of UK businesses have been hit by cyberattacks

New research from Hiscox has revealed that the proportion of UK firms reporting cyberattacks has jumped despite most businesses admitting they are under-prepared for breaches.

The insurer surveyed over 5,400 small, medium and large businesses across the UK, Germany the US, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain to compile its Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2019.

Hiscox found that 55 percent of UK firms had faced an attack in 2019 which is up by 40 percent from last year. However, almost three quarters of firms were ranked as “novices” in regard to their cyber readiness.

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According to the insurer's research, there has been a “sharp increase” in the number of cyberattacks this year with more than 60 percent of firms experiencing one or more attacks, up from 45 percent in 2018.

Rise in cyberattacks

The average losses from data breaches also increased by 61 percent from $229,000 to $369,000. Despite this, Hiscox said that the percentage of firms scoring top marks on cybersecurity has fallen with UK organizations doing particularly poorly.

The insurer's research also revealed that British firms had the lowest cybersecurity budgets, spending less than $900,000 on average compared with $1.46m across the group. They were also less likely to have a “defined role for cyber security” on their staff.

Head of Cyber at Hiscox, Gareth Wharton explained that low UK spending on cybersecurity could be a result of the large number of SMBs in Britain, saying:

"They may feel like they won't be targeted, as we tend to only read about large breaches in the press. If they incorrectly feel that they won't be targeted, they may be less likely to spend on cyber security."

Via The BBC