Most cyber-attacks on UK businesses are never reported

Another piece of research has pointed to the fact that the majority of cyber-attacks on UK businesses go unreported.

According to a new survey from the Institute of Directors (IoD), which took in the views of 1000 directors who are members of the organisation, over two-thirds of cyber-attacks weren't reported.

Cyber-attacks aren't uncommon, with 25% of respondents saying that their company had been hit by one in the past year. But of those affected, less than a third – just 28% – reported the incident to the police.

It's also worth bearing in mind that these are the attacks the respondents knew about. The full picture will also involve intrusions the directors weren't even aware of.

As the Register reports, the IoD noted that it is vital for these incidents to be reported in some way, stating: "The use of analytics and the role of GCHQ in catching international cybercriminals mean that every crime as a minimum should be reported to Action Fraud Aware."

Reputation fears

Of course, often a business would rather keep completely schtum to avoid any potential damage to its reputation, fearing that in the longer run this may end up costing more than the damage done by the intrusion itself.

Another worrying statistic that the report uncovered was the fact that less than half (only 43%) of businesses knew where their data was physically stored. Again, that's hardly ideal from a security standpoint.

The IoD was also in the media spotlight earlier this week with a report on ultrafast broadband, which urged the government to do much better in its rollout of blazingly fast internet connections across the UK.

The Institute called the current state of fibre coverage in this country "woeful" and download speeds "mediocre", and called for the government to set an ambitious target of 10Gbps across the country for homes and businesses alike by the year 2030.

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