Government warns businesses and charities unprepared for cyber attacks

Britain’s top firms and charities urgently need to do more to protect themselves from online threats, according to new Government research and a ‘cyber health check’ published today.

The new reports highlight scale of the cyber security and data protection challenge and found that one in ten FTSE 350 companies operate without a response plan for a cyber incident and less than a third of boards receive comprehensive cyber risk information (31 per cent). Only six percent of businesses are prepared for new data protection rules.

Separate new research found that charities are as susceptible to attacks as businesses Undertaken in the wake of recent high profile cyber attacks, a 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 percent) despite more than half saying cyber threats were a top risk to their business (54 percent).

Minister for Digital Matt Hancock said: “We have world leading businesses and a thriving charity sector but recent cyber attacks have shown the devastating effects of not getting our approach to cyber security right.

“These new reports show we have a long way to go until all our organisations are adopting best practice and I urge all senior executives to work with the National Cyber Security Centre and take up the Government’s advice and training.

“Charities must do better to protect the sensitive data they hold and I encourage them to access a tailored programme of support we are developing alongside the Charity Commission and the National Cyber Security Centre.”

There has been progress in some areas when compared with last year’s health check, with more than half of company boards now setting out their approach to cyber risks (53 per cent up from 33 percent) and more than half of businesses having a clear understanding of the impact of a cyber attack (57 percent up from 49 percent).