The BBC Reports that the proportion of UK firms reporting a cyber-attack has jumped, despite most businesses admitting they are under-prepared for breaches.
Hiscox insurance surveyed more than 5,400 small, medium and large businesses across seven countries, including the UK, Germany, the US, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain.
The headline finding is that 55% of UK businesses had faced an attack in 2019, up from 40% last year, but almost three-quarters of firms were ranked as “novices” in terms of cyber readiness.
They concluded that many businesses incorrectly felt that they weren’t at risk.
The cost of cyber attacks is also going up, average losses from breaches soared by 61% from $229,000 (£176,000) to $369,000.
Gareth Wharton, head of Cyber at Hiscox, is concerned that the comparatively low budgets for cyber security spending could be driven by the large number of small businesses in Britain.
Smaller companies 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.
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