The government has urged companies to take cyber security more seriously after its Information Security Breaches Survey 2015 found that severe attacks can now cost up to £3.14m for large firms and £310,800 for smaller businesses.
This has increased rapidly since last year, where the cost of a breach reached £600,000 and £115,000 respectively. The large majority of firms, 90% of large organisations and 74% of SMEs, reported they had suffered an information security breach.
On launching the report at Infosecurity Europe, Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey, said: “The UK’s digital economy is strong and growing, which is why British businesses remain an attractive target for cyber-attack and the cost is rising dramatically. Businesses that take this threat seriously are not only protecting themselves and their customers’ data but securing a competitive advantage.”
Andrew Miller, cyber security director at PwC, added: “With 9 out of ten respondents reporting a cyber breach in the past year, every organisation needs to be considering how they defend and deal with the cyber threats they face. Breaches are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often involving internal staff to amplify their effect, and the impacts we are seeing are increasingly long-lasting and costly to deal with.”
The government is advising companies to sign up to its Ten Steps to Cyber Security and Cyber Essentials schemes.