Hiscox report reveals state of preparedness among UK businesses
The UK鈥檚 construction industry has been ranked as the fifth most at risk from cyber attacks for the second year running.
According to an annual report by insurance giant Hiscox, almost half of UK firms have experienced a cyber-attack, with businesses experiencing a median annual loss of over 拢19,000 due to incidents.
The proportion of firms experiencing attacks has increased 9%, from 44% in 2022 to 48% this year.
Property was identified as the sector most at risk by the survey, which draws on a sample of more than 5,000 companies.
Business email compromise is the most common point of entry for cyber attacks, while 59% of UK organisations said they were more vulnerable due to remote working.
A phishing attack on Interserve, which was once a FTSE 250 listed business, cost the firm more than 拢11m, contributing to its decline.
The business went into administration in March 2019 and was subsequently broken up.
More recently, failed window and door manufacturer Safestyle UK cited the 拢4m cost of a cyber attack among the contributing factors to its own administration.
Alana Muir, head of cyber at Hiscox, said: 鈥淚mproving digital resilience is a never-ending task for businesses and the difference in how sectors are able to cope with this is marked.
鈥淭he uptick in attacks witnessed in the UK over recent years is concerning but not surprising.
鈥淐yber criminals are fast learners and often succeed in keeping one step ahead of the companies they are targeting.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that cyber security and privacy are regularly reviewed and necessary protections are put in place across all industries, to minimise damage to businesses and customers.鈥�
Earlier this week, the British Library suffered a technology outage after it was hit by a cyber-attack, which affected services online and its sites in London and West Yorkshire.
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