What can the Government commissioned “Cyber security breaches survey 2025/6” tell us about current cyber threats to businesses?
How prevalent are cyber events?
Obtaining accurate data on the frequency and severity of cyber attacks is notoriously difficult. Businesses are often reluctant to share when they have been a victim of a cyber attack for fear of reputational damage – this is a great shame, in our view, as it denies us valuable learning opportunities. Accepting that limitation, probably the most authoritative source of data is the Governments annual cyber security breaches survey which is published each April. What can the latest survey tell us about current trends and where we really need to focus our efforts? Here is our summary.
In total 43% of businesses reported experiencing some form of cyber security breach or attack in the previous year. In addition to those attacks not reported, it is also safe to assume that many were also not detected.
Who is being targeted by the cyber criminals?
It’s interesting to note that large businesses (69%) and medium businesses (65%) were far more likely to report an incident than small businesses (42%). One can imagine a number of competing forces at play here. Whilst larger businesses typically have superior protection they also have a larger IT footprint and their greater wealth provides a strong motivation for the cyber criminals.
What are the most common breaches and are the nature of attacks changing?
Contrary to popular opinion ransomware attacks among businesses are actually very low and on the decline. Phishing attacks are by far the most prevalent type of breach. Businesses report that they also tend to be very disruptive. Impersonation breaches or attacks remain significant but are in decline suggesting that organisations are becoming more aware and alert to this threat.
What about Cyber crime not covered by the survey?
Some cyber crimes do not constitute a breach of a businesses network and may not be picked up in the survey. For example, the most costly cyber attack among our clients was an impersonation fraud conducted over email. Because the crime had been conducted over email it was considered a cyber crime and covered under their cyber insurance policy.
What can we learn from the survey?
Archie Norman, the chairman of M&S, was very insightful in the wake of the hugely disruptive attack on their business last year. He noted that despite the increasing sophistication of the threat actors, most events aren’t the result of a technical breach but of exploiting employees. “Most attacks are impersonations, clever fraud. Assuming no one can get in is a false assumption.” He also recommended preparing for the worst, and part of that armoury is insurance.
Time for a Cyber Insurance Conversation?
Cyber Insured is a trading style of Pelican Business Insurance, one of the UK’s BIBA Accredited Cyber Insurance Brokers.
If you would like an exploratory conversation as to how insurance could fit in to your risk management plans then please pick up the phone on 0333 091 2730 or email info@cyberinsured.co.uk where our experienced, knowledgeable and friendly team will be delighted to help!
