Lloyd's Risk Index: Europe hasn't woken up to cyber threat

EU businesses are far more relaxed about cyber crime than their US counterparts

Businesses in Europe have yet to acknowledge the growing threat of cyber crime according to the 2011 Lloyd's Risk Index survey.

The Lloyd's Risk Index surveyed 500 global business leaders' views on global risk. The survey showed that the US, unlike Europe, is increasingly alert to the threat of cyber crime. Malicious cyber attacks were ranked as the fourth-highest priority risk in the US.

However, cyber crime is ranked only 14th out of 50 risks in Europe and 20th out of 50 in the Asia-Pacific region, much the same as was recorded by the 2009 Lloyd's Risk Index and despite the fact that cyber attacks are increasing in volume.

Richard Ward, CEO of Lloyd's of London, said that it was encouraging to see US businesses being alert to the threat of cyber crime and suggested that there was still more to be done to tackle the issue.

"It's encouraging to see US businesses increasingly waking up to the threat of cyber crime, as it presents a major risk to businesses and governments.

"As recent high-profile events have shown, criminals are exploiting weaknesses in new technology faster than security solutions are being developed, while current legislation is usually either inadequate or internationally inconsistent," he said in a statement.

"We need states, businesses and insurers to work together more closely to tackle this growing threat at the heart of the world's economy," he continued.

Last week, the Ministry of Defence's Major Jonathan Shaw said that the MoD would educate its staff on cyber threats and choose experts in cyber security to work in its new Defence Cyber Operations Group.

Speaking at the Cyber Security 2011 conference in Westminster, he said that the UK's businesses should also play their part by ensuring that their systems are properly protected.

This was further emphasized by the warning yesterday from security firm BitDefender of an exploit in Yahoo Instant Messenger, which could infect enterprise users' machines with malware.