Almost Half of UK Firms Have No Cyber Security Strategy

A new report has found that only half (56%) of UK firms have a strategy in place to protect devices and data from possible cyber threats.

The Institute of Directors and Barclays Bank surveyed 844 IoD members and found that nearly all respondents (95%) consider cybersecurity to be important to their business, yet not all are following best security practices to protect against cyber threats.

According to the findings, less than a third of respondents use a virtual private network (VPNs). What’s more, if any of these businesses were to happen to fall victim to a cyber-attack, only 40% would know who to contact.

This news is especially troubling given that starting May 2018, under the new European data protection rules, mandatory data breach notification will be required within 72 hours of a data breach to local supervisory authority.

The study found that 44% of respondents had funded cyber awareness training, but on a more positive note, the study found that two-thirds of respondents use a variety of different passwords, minimizing their risk exposure.

Businesses can no longer sit around and wait for the unthinkable to happen because if history has shown us anything, is that no one is exempt from suffering from a breach. From non-profit organizations, retails stores, and hospitals, to educational institutions and utility providers, anyone with weak security defenses in place will be exploited and taken advantage of by cyber criminals.

Read this article on InfoSecurity Magazine