Employers need to prioritise effective cyber security training and backup
policies to reduce the likelihood of costly data breaches, expert says.
Almost a third (28%) of UK businesses offer no cyber security training to
reduce the likelihood and severity of data breaches while working from home, a
new study reveals.
The
Cyber Security Insights Report from managed cloud services and security
provider iomart asked workers about
their businesses' cyber security provisions, including the level of training
offered, the extent of data backup policies in place, and their awareness of
how to identify a cyber attack.
The study found that 28% of workers admit that their business offers no
cyber security training at all. And although 42% of employees report training
being offered, it was only provided to select employees rather than to the
entire staff. And of those who did offer training, a huge proportion (82%) admitted it
consisted of a short briefing rather than a comprehensive course, while only
17% of workers had regular sessions relating to cyber security. This means that out of all employees surveyed, just 8% - less than one in
ten - received regular cyber security training.
When asked why they believed their organisation did not offer cyber security
awareness training across the board, respondents cited a lack of budget, a lack
of prioritisation when it came to preventing cyber attacks, and a lack of
technical expertise to implement it.
This is concerning, as almost a fifth (20%) of those surveyed reported
seeing an increase in cyber attacks as a result of working remotely, while a
quarter of workers admitted their business did not have a disaster recovery policy
in place.
Without a backup policy or training, a cyberattack could prove devastating
to UK businesses, with the reported average of a data breach currently stands
at a staggering £2.93 million and spanned an average of 280 days. Interestingly, healthcare was found to experience the biggest financial
impact of a breach with average losses of £5.4 million per incident.
Bill Strain, security director for iomart, warns that businesses need to
minimise risk by establishing an integrated data security plan saying: "It's
clear that many organisations still don't consider cyber security and data
protection to be a top priority. They need to understand what the potential threats are and build resilience
into their business strategy so they can react quickly and maintain operations
if their IT systems are compromised. Many businesses would not survive the operational - let alone financial -
impact of a data breach. By understanding the potential risk and introducing
positive behaviour around cyber awareness, they have a much better chance of
surviving an incident."
The survey has clear implications for employers, with many workers still set
to continue working remotely, and should continue to prioritise delivering
cyber security training to all employees.
This includes those who hold management positions, with more than a quarter
(29%) admitting they were unsure whether the business had recovery policies in
place.
To see more of the survey breakdown and to view the whitepaper, please
visit: https://info.iomart.com/cybersecurity-insights-report-2020