Why we can’t afford to take our foot off the cybersecurity pedal even when inflation is biting

The UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), in partnership with the Home Office, recently commissioned the Cyber Security Breaches Survey of UK businesses, charities, and education institutions as part of the National Cyber Security Programme.

A point that caught my eye is the proportion of small businesses which state that cyber security is a high priority has actually decreased from 80% in 2022 to 68% in 2023. According to the DSIT, qualitative evidence suggests that cyber security has dropped down the priority list for smaller organisations, relative to wider concerns such as inflation and economic uncertainty.

This is a worrying trend. The same DSIT survey reports that that 26% of medium businesses and 37% of large businesses experienced cybercrime in the last 12 months with an average annual cost of ￡15,300 per victim. These numbers tell us that while no one can deny the importance and impact of inflation and the state of the economy, we cannot afford to take our foot off the pedal on cybersecurity protection.

There are some simple things that all organizations can do to improve their cyber security posture and reduce the threat of ransomware attacks:

- Keep your organization's software up to date.

- Deploy company-wide multi factor authentication.

- Keep training your employees about ransomware and how to spot a suspicious email. Use simulations to keep them on their toes.

- Enable employees to report phishing attacks and have a team in place to act on emerging threats.

- Put in place measures to regularly back up files and keep the backups beyond the reach of hackers.

- Have a company-wide plan in place to deal with a ransomware attack.

- Practice, practice, practice?and review your plan regularly.

Check out DXC's website for more ideas, solutions and services that could help you keep your organisation safe. For a deeper look at the Cyber Security Breaches Survey check out the GOV.UK website.

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