More than half of businesses have suffered at least one cyber attack in the past five years, resulting in around £44bn of lost revenue, according to a report by Howden.

Businesses with an annual revenue of over £100m were the most targeted group, with 74% of those surveyed having suffered a cyber attack over the past five years. However, the survey suggests that threat levels are elevated across all businesses, with half (49%) of SMEs with a revenue of £2m to £50m also experiencing a cyber attack over the same period. The most common causes of cyber attacks were compromised emails (20%) and data theft (18%), with the average cost of these attacks equating to £2.1m and £2m respectively.

Despite the growing threat posed by cyber attacks, the report suggests take up of even the most basic cyber security measures remains low, highlighting a critical cyber security knowledge gap within UK businesses. At present, 61% of businesses are actively using antivirus software and only 55% are employing network firewalls. Organisations point to a number of obstacles to improving their cyber security, including cost (26%), insufficient knowledge (26%) and lack of internal IT resource (22%).

Respondents said that new policy measures such as tax relief on cyber investment (33%) will be the most effective way of improving cyber resilience within businesses, followed by free access to cyber expertise and resources (32%), compulsory minimum cyber standards (31%) and compulsory cyber insurance (26%).

Sarah Neild, head of UK cyber retail at Howden, said: “Cyber crime is on the rise, with malicious actors continuing to take advantage of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, particularly as firms become ever reliant on technology for their operations. UK businesses are currently losing a significant amount of revenue to cyber attacks, and the insurance industry is crucial to strengthening resilience and raising awareness of the security measures needed to help businesses protect their operations.

“Engagement with SMEs will be particularly important. This segment has been historically underserved by the cyber insurance market yet forms an important backbone of economic activity, both in terms of its size but also as an engine of growth. Through increased insurance penetration and education about implementation, we can help businesses improve their cyber resilience and protect against loss of revenue from these attacks.”

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