Almost half of UK businesses do not have adequate cyber security provision to maintain an 100% remote-working model, new research has found.
The findings from recruiter Robert Walters and data provider Vacancysoft also show that there are 65,000 cyber attacks on small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) daily, 4,500 of which are successful.
The researchers found that each successful data breach costs UK companies an average of £2.48m per instance, and that 44% of the public would not use a brand again if they knew their data had been breached.
This is despite ecommerce transactions growing by 168% in May alone, currently representing 27.5% of total retail sales this year.
“The pace at which the sector grew during COVID-19 raises questions as to whether their cyber security has been up to par with the sharp increase in traffic to online sites,” said Darius Goodarzi, principal at Robert Walters.
“With consumers being hyper-sensitive about their personal information in a rapidly evolving digital world, e-commerce sites cannot afford to lose the trust of customers in what is becoming a very competitive space.”
While industries have vowed to step up their security game, the researchers said that the current £68bn spend on cyber security could need to be doubled, at the very least, to be up to scratch with new ways of working.
However, in a period of rapid, non-legislated change, they said that there remains a question about where accountability lies regarding data breaches.
The latest research also found that, due to a robust level of regulation placed on the banking and financial sector, the industry maintains its top position for IT security excellence.
“For the more mature financial institutions who have sufficient IT-security talent onboard it is not surprising to see the resilience the sector has had against COVID-19-related cyber threats,” said Ajay Hayre, senior technology consultant at Robert Walters.
Author: Chris Seekings
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