Cyber Attacks Proving Costly for UK Businesses

Cyber attacks cost businesses in the UK over £34bn in 2015, according to a new study from Beaming.

The new survey reveals that bills for data theft and malware management mounted to £6.2bn and £7.5bn respectively.

The findings come after the National Cyber Strategy was recently released by Phillip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Roughly one out of eight respondents (13%) said that their IT infrastructure was affected by viruses within the last year, which came with a £10,615 price tag in damages.

More than one in five (22%) of businesses now hold boardroom discussions regarding cyber security. Close to half (49%) of businesses are already improving their security to protect their communication networks and technology.

Beaming managing director Sonia Blizzard believes that the government’s willingness to combat cyber crime is positive, but that it is no guarantee of our safety. She feels that it is an ongoing process and that more responsibility needs to be taken by the private sector.

She added:

“We don’t want to give businesses a false sense of security here. The number of specialist investigators seems low given the size of the threat, and we need clarity around the reporting of cybercrime if we are to have faith in anything being done.”

While positive action is clearly being taken, Blizzard is right that there is much more to be done. Businesses need to create more technical cyber security jobs to ensure that they are making their company as secure as possible.