Half of UK businesses lack the most basic Cybersecurity skills, new government research has revealed, prompting urgent calls for employers to take action. The research conducted by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), found 50 per cent of the 965 businesses polled “lacked the confidence” to carry out at least one of a series of basic technical tasks, all leading to a concerning lack of Cybersecurity.
These included 31 per cent of companies that said they were not confident storing or transferring personal data; 25 per cent that were not confident setting up firewalls; and 20 per cent that cited detecting and removing malware as an issue.
In March, the government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 showed two in five UK businesses had experienced Cybersecurity breaches or attacks over the past year, costing each firm on average £8,460 (rising to £13,400 for medium to large businesses).
The survey also found only 18 per cent of businesses had a Cybersecurity policy on how to use personal devices at work, with less than a quarter having a Cybersecurity policy covering home working, raising concerns the pandemic was putting firms at even greater risk of cyber-attacks. The most common breaches or attacks were phishing emails, followed by instances of others impersonating their organisation online, viruses or other malware including ransomware.
The government report highlighted how companies often fail to understand “their vulnerability to attack, the value of their critical assets, and the profile or sophistication of potential attackers”, with security risks not always obvious. Vulnerabilities in a company’s infrastructure can compromise both current financial situations and endanger its future brand credibility. Companies everywhere are looking into potential solutions to their Cybersecurity issues.
There are a range of threats facing every size of business. The best way for businesses to protect against these threats is to have a comprehensive set of security tools in place, and to utilise Security Awareness Training to ensure that users are aware of security threats and how to prevent them.
If you want to fear less about cyber security and protect your digital assets more, please contact BLUE Profile (below) for an initial no obligation discovery call. You can also download the SonicWall 2021 Cyber Threat Report here on our downloads page.
