Government Survey Reveals That Two Thirds of the UK Businesses have suffered from Cyber Attacks

The victims aren’t just larger firms either; smaller businesses have also become more susceptible to breaches over the last twelve months, with the average business reporting up to 998 breaches occurring in just a single year.

This increase in cyber criminal activity, has been linked to the increase in companies storing customer information electronically, which is over half the country’s businesses (61%).

The illegal obtainment and trading of information is an increasingly popular form of cyber-crime; ransomware in particular (when data is stolen and held to ransom by the attacker). Which is why companies that do store their customer data electronically are more likely to be attacked (51% versus 46%).

Over half of targeted companies reported that the attacks had some detrimental effect on their business (57%), including financial losses; with the average business facing costs of around £1,570 per breach.

These findings continue to prove how essential cyber security is to all businesses, from the largest enterprise, to the smallest one-man-band. Almost three-quarters (74%) of the UK’s businesses now consider cyber security to be a high-priority concern, with a third labelling it as a very-high priority.

During 2016, 67% of businesses spent money on cyber security, with many opting to purchase additional protection for their company networks and investing in staff training.

When it comes to protecting your business from cyber attacks, the most important factors to consider are that your employees are aware of cyber threats, your systems are suitably protected, and whether your business is prepared to cope if the worse should happen.

Ensuring that your staff take the necessary precautions is essential when it comes to cyber-security, as the majority of attacks come in the form of phishing emails (72%) and malware/spyware (33%), and so rely on an individual’s mistake to successfully breach.

However, reinforcing your network security and building up your disaster recovery strategy, can help protect your business from taking losses. Having an offsite backup solution in place entirely disables the threat of ransomware, and having an online security system monitor your network can help prevent your staff from accidently exposing your company data.

Our managed IT services can provide your business with both these services and more. Redsquid’s IT experts can help protect your network from cyber-security threats, and ensure that if your company does suffer a cyber attack, your data can be restored and your business can continue to run as usual.

Even with the increasing number of businesses falling prey to cyber-attacks, there are still plenty of ways and means to protect your employees, your networks, and your customers from the negative effects of cyber crime.