Businesses in the UK have reportedly been slashing their cyber security budgets by a third according to the PwC Global State of Information Survey. This comes at a time when the head of the intelligence monitoring service GCHQ has described the threat of cyber attacks in the UK as on a par with fighting terrorism.
Despite the increase of cyber security threats and their prominence in the public eye following the WannaCry ransomware attack on the NHS, the UK has been described as trailing behind the rest of the world in cyber security.
Cyber security budgets for UK businesses have been reduced from £6.2m to £3.9m in the past year, suggesting that perhaps many businesses have other priorities more immediately important to them than cyber security.
As well as the budget reductions, there are other indications that the UK is falling behind the rest of the world’s cyber security standards. In the UK, only 44% of organisations have a cyber insurance policy in place to protect them financially in the event of a security breach compared with 58% of organisations globally.
With the introduction of GDPR only a matter of months away, many businesses may be in line for a shock to their systems about the level of cyber protections they should have in place.
The landscape of cyber security is in a constant flux but with threats coming from nations such as Russia, Iran and North Korea it seems to sensible for UK businesses to take cyber security just as seriously as any other part of their business. As ever it is not a case of IF with the next cyber attack, but WHEN.
How Cyber Essentials Can Help
The first step to keeping your organisation safe from cyber-attack is to be certified with Cyber Essentials. Certification to the Government’s Cyber Essentials Scheme is a mandatory requirement for organisations wishing to win business with the MOD, and can help your organisation prepare and defend itself against malicious cyber-attacks, regardless of the sector you operate in.
