<div dir="ltr"><div><a href="https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/fifth-of-businesses-cyber-attack/">https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/fifth-of-businesses-cyber-attack/</a><br></div><div><br></div><div><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-16dfa70c-7fff-e304-df6a-d6d49aa6ec13"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A fifth of US and European businesses have warned that a serious cyber-attack nearly rendered them insolvent, with most (87%) viewing compromise as a bigger threat than an economic downturn, according to Hiscox.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The insurer polled over 5000 businesses in the US, UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to compile its annual Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">It revealed the potentially catastrophic financial damage that a serious cyber-attack can wreak. The number claiming to have nearly been brought down by a breach increased 24% compared to the previous year.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Nearly half (48%) of respondents said they suffered an attack over the past 12 months, a 12% increase from the previous report’s findings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, businesses in seven out of eight countries see cyber as their biggest threat.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Yet perception appears to vary greatly depending on whether an organization has suffered a serious compromise or not. While over half (55%) of total respondents said they view cyber as a high-risk area, the figure among companies that have not yet suffered an attack is just 36%.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">While spending on cybersecurity is increasing, on average, up 60% per company year-on-year, so is the cost of attacks. Hiscox calculated the median cost at around $17,000 – up 29% year-on-year.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">More concerning given the new era of hybrid working is that almost two-thirds of respondents (62%) agreed that their business was more vulnerable to an attack as a result of employees working from home. This increased to 69% in companies with more than 250 employees.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Business owners will have spent years growing and investing in their business, but one cyber-attack could reduce what they have built to financial rubble,” warned Hiscox Cyber CEO, Gareth Wharton.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Remote working is not going away, and has impacted the volume of cyber-attacks as cyber-criminals gain access via cloud servers, so it is vital that businesses take the necessary steps to protect themselves against the complexity and speed of cyber-attacks.”</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Wharton added that with phishing emails remaining a top threat vector, organizations should focus efforts on improving their staff awareness training.</span></p></span><br class="gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><span><div dir="ltr" style="margin-left:0pt" align="left"></div></span></div></div></div>