The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has published the results of a survey that looks at the cyber security experiences of 1200 UK businesses during the past 12 months. The survey shows that one in five UK businesses has been the victim of a cyber-attack in the past year and bigger businesses are far more likely than their smaller counterparts to be victims of attacks. 42 percent of companies with more than 100 staff, compared to 18 percent of companies with fewer than 99 employees experienced cyber attacks.
The survey findings show that 21 percent of businesses believe the threat of cyber-crime is preventing their company from growing.
Other key findings include:
- Only a quarter (24 percent) of businesses have cyber security accreditations in place;
- Smaller businesses are far less likely to have accreditation (10 percent of sole traders and 15 percent of those with 1-4 employees) than bigger businesses (47 percent with more than 100 employees).
- Of the businesses that do have accreditations, half (49 percent) believe it gives their business a competitive advantage over rival companies, and a third (33 percent) consider it important in creating a more secure environment when trading with other businesses.
