Cybersecurity has gone from being a technical issue to one that needs consideration and leadership at a board level, according to an expert.
Julian Cracknell, managing director for UK services at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, said that the “price of cyber ignorance” could be “catastrophic”.
This, he explained on the back of BAE Systems releasing its latest study, was true not only for organizations hit with a cyberattack, but also for the wider economy as well.
The paper revealed, for example, that for at least one in ten businesses, the cost of a cyberattack was as much as £1 million.
“Businesses need to ensure they have the right people, process and tools in place."
Mr Cracknell said: “Businesses need to ensure they have the right people, process and tools in place, so when a major incident occurs they are equipped to understand, contain and remediate.”
Other notable findings of the survey include:
- 79% of respondents being of the opinion that they have “appropriate security controls” in place to stay safe and secure from cyberattacks
- 69% stating that they are confident that they could return to “business as normal", two days on from a cyberattack
- 23% confirming that they had experienced a cyberattack within the last six months
News of this comes on the back of Europol’s Internet Organised Crime Threat Index, which revealed that the “relentless growth of cybercrime” poses a serious threat to everyone’s security.
Speaking last month, Steve Wilson, head of the European Cybercrime Centre at Europol, said: “2016 has seen the further evolution of established cybercrime trends.
“The threat from ransomware has continued to grow and has now expanded into sectors such as healthcare. Europol has also seen the development of malware targeting the ATM network, impacting cash services worldwide.”
