Only 10 per cent of CTOs rate government performance on preventing cyber attacks as 'good'

Centre for Economics and Business Research and Veracode report slams government for not doing more to protect UK businesses from cyber crime

UK businesses are unhappy with the way government is handling cyber security, with a damning report suggesting that only 10 per cent of CTOs rate the performance of the government in protecting and educating UK firms against the dangers of cyber attacks as ‘good'.

The report, titled ‘The business and economic consequences of inadequate cybersecurity,' is based on a joint study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and web security firm Veracode. It suggests that 60 per cent of CTO level business chiefs feel that the government is not doing enough to prevent cyber attacks.

According to the study, 60 per cent of CTOs believe that the government is performing poorly in educating and protecting UK firms from cyberattacks, with only 10 per cent suggesting that the government is doing a good job.

A further 10 per cent of CTOs suggested that the government is doing an ‘average' job of protecting and educating firms about cyber attacks, while 20 per cent said they ‘don't know' how well the government is performing.

According to the survey, the top concerns businesses have surrounding cyber attacks are the financial cost of a potential breach, lost revenues due to downtime and the damage being the victim of such an attack would cause to reputation and branding.

Cebr warns that: "Cyber security is a global threat. All countries and all businesses are affected" and that they're not isolated incidents "but events that have significant long-term implications and problems" such as loss of revenue, decline in customer confidence and the fact that exposure of weaknesse in a company's cyber security system "can lead to further attacks"

The report also warns how the Internet of Things (IoT) could increase vulnerability to cyberattacks in the future. A previous report by Veracode suggested that the Internet of Things also poses a risk of ‘real world' crimes.

In order to prevent cyber attacks, the Cebr report argues that "Firms should prioritize cybersecurity more highly in their organizational strategies to avoid cybersecurity breaches and their long-term consequences."

"The UK economy is under siege from cyber attackers and the UK government should look to other successful private/public partnerships - such as Swiss banking regulations, German data privacy laws and US breach disclosure laws - as a model of how to improve the situation for us all," said Adrian Beck, Veracode's director of enterprise security program management.

"For example, disclosure laws would require firms to report breaches in a timely fashion, thereby protecting consumers from identity theft and encouraging companies to implement best practices when dealing with cybersecurity," he added.

Speaking during a recent security panel, Andy Archibald, Deputy Director of the National Cybercrime Unit, part of the National Crime Agency, suggested that the authorities are in a recruitment battle with cyber criminals to recruit the best talent.