The results of the Financial Times/ICSA Boardroom Bellwether survey could increase pressure on company boards to ensure they are prepared for cyber attacks, amidst concerns that the threat of technology security is too often overlooked in business.

Investing for the future

The Financial Times reported that costs related to breaches to cyber security in UK companies tripled in the last year, with the Cabinet Office estimating such costs to the UK at about £27bn a year.
A report from the National Audit Office details that the UK suffers from a shortage of relevant professionals needed to provide such vigilance in cyber space.
Science minister David Willetts said the 2015-16 spending review would engage with these concerns by including an extra £210m investment for the National Cyber Security Programme, on top of the £650m already set aside. ‘We are engaging with key industry sectors to raise awareness and encourage behaviour change, so companies focus on the threat of an attack before it happens,’ Mr Willetts said.

Small businesses suffer

According to the Telegraph, 41 per cent of the members of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)  have been victim to cyber crime in the last year. One in five FSB members declared they had taken no steps to protect against cyber crime. An FSB report of its 200,000 members estimated that cyber crime costs each small business £3,750 a year, resulting in growing concerns that small businesses will avoid trading online due to a lack of vigilance and protection.