According to findings made by The Insurance Octopus, cyber crime currently costs the UK economy £1 trillion a year. Small to medium-sized businesses are reportedly the most at risk, with data from the Manchester-based insurance company revealing that over 65,000 attempted breaches per day impact businesses of this size.
One small business is successfully breached every 19 seconds in the UK due to a lack of IT security infrastructure or trained IT professionals who are able to identify, react and neutralise potential threats. Large organised crime groups target smaller businesses that have fewer cyber security measures in place, utilising the access breach to spread to larger businesses within their supply chain.
Small to medium-sized businesses find it difficult to afford robust enough cyber security technology, which is typically expensive, research conducted by The Insurance Octopus finds. In 2021, over a third (39%) of UK SMEs reported a cyber breach. Businesses across the UK also faced solvency issues, with 1 in 5 SMEs sharing that they had to pay associated costs as a result of a cyber attack.
For National Computer Security Day, The Insurance Octopus has created an interactive quiz, styled in a coder design, to put common knowledge surrounding cyber security to the test. The goal is to educate business owners on the importance of cyber security and help them to better protect themselves against hacking attempts and malware attacks.
Christopher Ashton, Cyber Security Expert at The Insurance Octopus, gives advice to victims of scams, fraud or cyber breaches: ‘Hackers are getting smarter with technology and detecting suspicious activity can sometimes go completely unnoticed. It’s important to have the right tools in place to protect your personal, business and financial information. Investing in cyber protection tools like antivirus software and cyber insurance will help give you the extra protection you need to keep your business out of danger.
‘If you’ve fallen victim to a scam, we recommend you contact Action for Fraud. You can report fraud or cyber crime to Action for Fraud any time of the day or night using its online fraud reporting tool. You can also report and get advice about fraud or cyber crime by calling 0300 123 2040.’
