Cyber attacks cost Manchester economy £41 million, according to a study carried out by Alto digital, aimed at discovering how far UK businesses have developed in terms of office security.
Almost 62% of businesses in the city have been targeted by hackers in the last 12 months.
The study revealed that firms are seriously compromising their confidential data, unknowlingly committing security violations because of a lack of training and knowledge of their IT systems and document security.
It was calculated that these hacks equated to down time equivalent to five to seven days per annum for UK business, with 69% of staff members affected.
An analysis of Manchester’s most common cyber security risks are:
· Companies not having a firewall (up to 36% from 24% in 2013)
· Failing to change old passwords (up to 55% from 32% in 2013)
· Not protecting data stored on printers or photocopiers at all (82%)
The primary reason for IT hacks on Manchester’s businesses in 2016 was phishing emails – when fraudsters attempt to obtain sensitive information for malicious reasons.
Targets include professional services firms such as accountants, mortgage brokers and law firms.
23% of those questioned have also experienced a hack via their telecoms systems, with the most common methods being via remote voice mail access (41%), remote programming (49%) and IP phones (36%).
Sensitive Data Collection and Processsing
When it comes to scanning or photocopying documents, 51% of Manchester’s businesses admit to regularly processing highly confidential documents such as birth certificates (42%), client confidential documents (29%) and even company insurance documents (18%), yet an overwhelming 69% are unaware that a photocopier will store every single document that it scans – a serious hacking risk when connected to a company network.
When asked about the barriers to investing in a sophisticated security strategy, 52% of companies said it’s too expensive (48% in 2013), 59% stated that it’s too time consuming (23% in 2013) and 62% even mentioned that it’s just too confusing (32% in 2013).
It’s not all bad news though, only 24% of UK employees admitted that there’s a lack of concern at management level to invest in a reliable security infrastructure – a large reduction from 2013, when it was a more significant 36%.
Even more positive is the result that an impressive 80% of IT Directors questioned revealed that they always wipe their internal hard drive before getting rid of obsolete printers, a 27% increase from 2013.
Whilst it is clearly important to focus on training and proactive cyber security and data security policies aimed at prevention, the number of phishing or spoofing attempts on Manchester businesses, which are becoming more sophisticated, it is also important to have a trusted Cyber Security Incident Response team who can ensure that any cyber incident is managed properly and professionally with the minimum of downtime and loss to the business.