Cyber breaches cost UK businesses a whopping £34.1 billion last year, with bills for managing malware and data theft incidents amounting to £7.5 billion and £6.2 billion, respectively.
That’s according to new figures put forward by Beaming, whose research found that one in eight (13%) business leaders said their IT setup had been hit by viruses during the previous 12 months, costing infected organizations £10,516 in time and money spent in dealing with each incident.
Companies are clearly feeling the pinch from this, with 22% of those polled admitted to being ‘highly concerned’ about the threat of viruses. As a result almost half have improved their cybersecurity defenses to protect their technology and communications networks whilst 72% now have insurance to cover losses caused by malware.
“The fact that cyber breaches cost businesses almost £34bn last year is no surprise,” said Rob Norris, director of enterprise & cybersecurity in EMEIA at Fujitsu. “You just need to look at the amount of companies being hit by attacks to see the growth of malicious intent. Criminals seek data and intellectual property to sell, and companies have it – it’s as simple as that.”
To combat this risk it’s imperative that companies take a proactive approach when it comes to security, added Norris.
“Organizations need to focus on the integration of threat intelligence and other information sources to provide the context necessary to deal with today’s advanced cyber-criminals. There must also be a clear and well-rehearsed crisis management plan for a breach, addressing internal and external communication.”
Interestingly, large and medium businesses were almost twice as likely to contract viruses as smaller companies, says Beaming. A fifth (21%) of firms with over 250 employees and 19% with 100 to 249 people suffered malware in 2015, compared to just 11% of companies with less than 100 employees.
“As digital transformation continues to revolutionize the world, no matter the industry, every organization is at risk of a cyber-attack or a human error data breach. This is why it is crucial that all steps possible are taken to protect a business, not only to reduce the fall out of an incident, but to stop it from happening in the first place,” Stephen Love, security practice lead for the EMEA region at Insight, said.
“There are many accessible solutions that businesses can put in place to protect their assets, from data loss prevention software, to multi-layered security, to biometric log-in systems. However, what seems to be the core issue is a lack of understanding and urgency to implement these technologies. This presents a call-to-action for technology companies in the security space to ensure the message is getting across, that it is clear and understandable, and to support businesses from beginning to end on their security journeys.”