Cyber espionage is the biggest security threat for businesses

European and US businesses see cyber espionage as the biggest threat to their security, according to a new report by Trend Micro. The report says that organizations in the West are under "increasing pressure" from groups looking to get their hands on some sensitive data.

In relations to the accusations that the Russians have been interfering with US elections, there’s an interesting stat: a large percentage of countries with recent, or upcoming polls, say they had been subjected to cyber espionage attacks in the last 12 months.

The US (20 percent), Italy (20 percent), France (18 percent), The Netherlands (16 percent), Germany (13 percent) and the UK (10 percent) have all found themselves on this list. Businesses in these countries have also cited cyber espionage as a top threat.

"As more of our critical data is being moved online, nation states are now targeting businesses to obtain this data and businesses are struggling to keep up, which could also be placing critical infrastructure at risk," said Genes. "Nation states are able to use far more sophisticated methods, enabling them to target institutions such as hospitals, utilities and traffic signals, with far more disastrous consequences."

Almost half of UK businesses (48 percent) experienced a "known" major cyber-attack in the last 12 months, with the average being three, the report says. More than a quarter of businesses say they were struggling to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape, with ransomware being the biggest threat.

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