UK businesses experiencing more cyber-attacks in 2019

The rise in cyber-attacks in business

Hackers are attacking UK businesses even more in 2019; recent figures show the rise in the number of cyber-attacks aimed at organisations and the frequency at which they occur.

60% of businesses have already faced at least one cyber-attack in 2019 according to a survey from Hiscox. Additionally, UK businesses are receiving a large volume of cyber-attacks; organisations are hit every 50 seconds (Beaming).

According to Beaming, the number of cyber-attacks has risen by 179% in 2019 compared to 2018 figures. Hiscox identified the financial loss attributed to successful hacks has risen by 61%.

Most commonly, attackers target your connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices, computer systems and file sharing services with ransomware attacks.

UK cybersecurity budgets

These standalone statistics are alarming enough. Hiscox’s research also discovered that UK organisations are performing the worst when it comes to cybersecurity. And we have the smallest budgets dedicated to keeping their data and systems safe from hackers. This is a startling assessment of UK businesses’ risk management strategies.

Additionally, businesses in the UK are the least likely to have a “defined role for cybersecurity” in their staff structure.

It’s clear that hackers are continuing to ramp up their efforts to infiltrate your business. They’re using methods including installing malicious malware and stealing your business data. With recent record-breaking fines handed out to British Airways and Marriott under the GDPR for their 2018 data breaches, it’s also evident that the ICO is taking data protection seriously. It’s critical to protect information which is covered under the GDPR.

The UK is experiencing a digital skills gap which is most acutely evidenced in the cyber-security space; this was identified by the parliamentary Cyber Security Skills and the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure report published last year. So it’s understandable that businesses would struggle to recruit an internal cybersecurity specialist.

How to stop cyber-attacks

This is where a managed services partner can come in; it’s our job to hire the best and brightest in IT security. We have an unrivalled team of security experts dedicated to improving the security of your business.

With over 70 Sophos-qualified engineers, you can trust in TSG as your managed IT services partner to evaluate the current state of your business’ IT security. We’ll make expert recommendations to ensure you don’t fall victim to the constantly evolving cyber-attacks. Our security teams help hundreds of UK businesses understand what it takes to keep business-critical data safe. We can help with:

• Cloud security
• Information security
• Disaster recovery planning
• Protection around your sensitive information

We can also put in place intelligent cybersecurity solutions. Many now use real-time machine learning to get better at keeping malware out.

Interested in finding out the current state of your business’ cybersecurity? You can take our FREE IT security audit questionnaire, which will give you a score and tips on bolstering your defences.

Take our basic audit now

We’re also working on higher-level cybersecurity assessment and monitoring which will not only address key areas of your business like endpoint and email scanning protections, but monitor data that could already have been stolen from your business including login credentials.

Register your interest in our cybersecurity assessment and monitoring using the form below: