Cyber attacks cost the UK economy £1.9 billion

Eighteen percent of UK businesses have been the target of a cyber-attack in the last 12 months, according to a new report by Altodigital. These attacks cost the economy £1.9 billion.

Back in 2013 33 percent of companies were hacked, so Altodigital sees the current figure of 18 percent as a "welcome improvement." Each individual attack cost more than £2,000 last year.

These hacks equated to five to seven days of downtime for UK businesses, and 89 percent of staff was affected.

Despite the evident progress, there are still a few things organizations are doing wrong. Forty-one percent don’t have a firewall. Fifty-six percent fail to change old passwords, and 74 percent don’t protect data stored on printers or photocopiers.

Primary means of attack was phishing emails, the report also stated.

"Although UK businesses still have a long way to go in terms of security in the office, especially concerning simple elements like firewalls and changing passwords, it’s very positive to see that the amount of hacks has decreased significantly and a huge majority of UK IT directors always wipe their internal hard drives before disposing of them," says Alistair Millar, group marketing manager at Altodigital.

"We hope that businesses will continue to improve their office tech security, through simple precautions such as changing passwords, password protecting data and installing a simple security system so in another four years, the results will be even more positive!"

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Future plc Publication. All rights reserved.

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