A recent government report says that the cost of UK cyber and IT security breaches has almost doubled in a year.
According to the research, produced for the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, the average cost of the worst breach suffered by an organisation has gone up significantly, particularly for small businesses.
For a large organisation, the average cost of the worst security breach of the year - some had more than one - was £1.15m (up
from £450-£850k a year ago). The average cost for a small business was £65k (up from
£35k a year ago).
It also revealed that some 70% of cyber attacks go unreported, meaning the problem may be further reaching than most people think.
Avatu managing director, Joe Jouhal said: "This government report is sober reading. It highlights the stark reality for so many organisations. Cyber criminals and insider threats are significant and very costly. We know from our work that being hit by a cybersecurity or IT security attack can be devastating for an organisation.
"But the cyber attacks we hear about on the news are only the tip of the iceberg. It's really chilling to think that these may not even be the worst ones happening."
See the full cybersecurity report here.