Last month we told you how severely
unprepared UK businesses are for the impact of a cyberattack. According to insurance broker Lockton, only 2% of UK businesses believe a large-scale breach would affect business for more than 10 days.
Now the president of the International Cyber Threat Task Force (ICCTF) is citing the need for a joint cyber group for Ireland and the UK aimed at dealing with the “fallout” from Brexit negotiations.
A report by The Irish Times quoted Paul Dwyer as saying: “There are concerns from the business and cyber security communities about the implications Brexit will have on existing cyber security, privacy, and data protection laws.”
According to Dwyer, Brexit discussions had been “light on detail” in this regard – he claimed that a number of Irish and UK businesses are not counting on favourable outcomes from the negotiations.
Dwyer said, as quoted by the report: “The overwhelming array of sophisticated cyberattack techniques and the sheer amount of cyber criminals combined with a potential legal impotency post-Brexit is a real concern for many businesses.”
However, while businesses recognise the threats, the awareness does not automatically translate to action or preparedness. Government research released last month showed that two in three bosses at even the biggest businesses in the UK are not trained to respond in the event of a cyberattack.
“Undertaken in the wake of recent high profile cyberattacks, the survey of the UK’s biggest 350 companies found more than two-thirds of boards had not received training to deal with a cyber incident (68%) despite more than half saying cyber threats were a top risk to their business (54%),” said the government.
As for small businesses, the question is whether they have the willingness or capacity to prepare.
Zurich’s SME Risk Index found that 49% intend to spend no more than £1,000 on their cyber defences in the next 12 months.
“The results suggest that SMEs are not yet heeding the warnings provided by large attacks on global businesses,” said Paul Tombs, head of SME proposition at Zurich.
Related stories:
Lockton: UK businesses “severely unprepared” for impact of a cyberattack
New data protection laws to have “considerable impact” on insurance industry
