Government report finds a third of firms suffering cyber attacks are hit every week

Businesses and charities are being urged to strengthen their cybersecurity practices after a report by the Department of Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has found that 31% of business experience cyber breaches or attacks at least once a week.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 report, published on 30th March, also found 26% of charities also experienced weekly cyber attacks. While the number of organisations reporting attacks over the last 12 months remained the same, the report also found that the frequency of attempts to breach an organisation’s cybersecurity had increased.

Small businesses are being encouraged to adopt the Cyber Essentials scheme to protect their data from the most common threats, including phishing attacks, as well as using the NCSC’s Small Business Guide to inform their cybersecurity practices.

Businesses are also being encouraged to consider the cybersecurity of their supply chains, as well as digital services they use, when assessing preparedness towards cyber threats; this follows a wave of high profile attacks on services such as Kaseya, used by many IT service providers, Microsoft Exchange, and an attack on equipment used to manage the Colonial Pipeline oil pipeline in Texas.

Cyber Minister Julia Lopez said:

“It is vital that every organisation take cyber security seriously as more and more business is done online and we live in a time of increasing cyber risk.

“No matter how big or small your organisation is, you need to take steps to improve digital resilience now and follow the free government advice to help keep us all safe online.”

Also included within the DCMS report was a note that there are currently no specific cyber threats to UK organisations in relation to Russian military aggression in Ukraine.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 was carried out for DCMS by Ipsos MORI with the fieldwork conducted between October 2021 and January 2022.