A number of high profile hacking incidents have recently made headlines, with companies such as TalkTalk, JPMorgan & Fidelity being among those targeted. Hackers are not always seeking cash; it is the personal and financial information of customers which are increasingly targeted.
The 2015 Information Security Breaches Survey found that 90% of large organisations and 74% of small businesses had suffered a security breach in 2015, against 81% and 60% respectively for 2014.
These breaches have a direct effect on profits and, for small businesses, the breach costs start at £75,000 up from £65,000 in 2014. This is a significant sum for small businesses and the costs to a large organisation start at £1.46 million (up from £600,000 in 2014). The costs of TalkTalk’s recent hacking incident are estimated to be around £35m.
Such incidents highlight the necessity of businesses complying with their data protection obligations under of the Data Protection Act 1998.
For more information on how to protect your business please see our recent cybercrime factsheet here.
Our Corporate and Commercial team can advise businesses on their obligations under the Data Protection Act and other regulations and can help you to review and improve your practices and procedures. Please contact them on 01737 854 500 or contact a member of the team directly.