25% of UK businesses lack basic hacking safeguards

A report find over 20% of British firms were hit with a cyber attack last year.

According to a recent survey, around one in 5 businesses have been targeted by cyber attacks over the past year, many of these businesses were lacking in basic security measures which would have enabled them to prevent loss of personal data.

A report by the British Chamber of Commerce showed that of 1,200 British businesses, 20% of those had been hit by cyber attacks in the last 12 months.

According to this around, businesses that have more 100 employees are more likely to be affected (42%) in comparison to smaller businesses (18%), As the numbers grow of cyber attacks over the past year, it has led to uneasiness in established UK businesses, around 20% believe this threat is hindering business growth.

“Cyber attacks risk companies’ finances, confidence and reputation, with victims reporting not only monetary losses but costs from disruption to their business and productivity,” said Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chamber of Commerce.

In addition this survey revealed only a quarter (24%) of businesses have cyber security accreditations in place or basic safeguards to help prevent hacking attempts, this is despite the growing numbers of attacks that are happening along with the high publicity some data breaches have had over the past year.

“Firms need to be proactive about protecting themselves from cyber attacks,” added Marshall. “Accreditations can help businesses asses their own IT infrastructure, defend against cyber security breaches and mitigate the damage caused by an attack. It can also increase confidence among the businesses and clients who they engage with online.”

As we all know the telecom’s provider TalkTalk was hit with a record high fine of £400,000 in 2016 for failings in its security of data, this led to the hack of over 150,000 customer details including very sensitive financial information of more than 15,000 people. The UK’s data protection regulator, the information Commissioner’s Office, thought the company could have prevented this hack had they invested in some basic security safety measure.

Stephanie Weagle, VP at Corero Network Security, said: “Attackers will always find new exploits and new attack methods of disrupting financial opportunity, extortion, accessing personally identifiable data and disrupting an organisations online availability.”

“Cyber attack activity is prevelant today, more than ever – especially when it comes to DDoS attacks. These attacks are taking centre stage as the techniques have become much more sophisticated in nature,” added Weagle.

Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chamber of Commerce has called for greater clearness in dealing with the aftermath of cyber attacks, a survey found that 63% of UK businesses rely on IT providers to resolve issues, in comparison to 12% of banks and 2% of law enforcement who usually rely on their in-house expertise.

This is going to be very important when you consider we are approaching a move to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018, which will need any business who are handling EU citizens personal data to comply with tougher legislation.

“Companies are reporting a reliance on IT support providers to resolve cyber attacks,” said Marshall. “More guidance from government and police about where and how to report attacks would provide businesses with a clear path to follow in the event of a cyber security breach.”