IT workers unaware of how to defend against a cyber attack
UK businesses are unaware and unprepared when it comes to protecting themselves against cyber-attacks, new research has revealed. A survey of 1,032 IT workers in full or part-time employment, carried out by technology services provider Probrand has revealed that more than one in five (21%) don’t actually know what a ‘cyber-attack’ constitutes.
Used as an umbrella term, ‘cyber attack’ is used to cover everything from a simple phishing email, right across to a server attack, however, many IT workers have never seen or understand what the actual detail of an attack actually looks like.
Almost half (43%) of the IT workers surveyed admitted to being unaware of how to defend their company from a cyber-attack, with one in three (32%) relying on external agencies for crisis support.
Furthermore, only one in ten (12%) of respondents admitted to knowing what their company’s business continuity plan fully constitutes.
Matt Royle, marketing director at Probrand said: “The term, ‘cyber-attack’ is firmly set in business vocabulary, and rightly so as cyber threats present the greatest risk of crisis to most organisations.
“However, it is worrying to discover many do not know the details of what a threat looks like, so have little chance of protecting themselves from it.
“Where no IT team exists, business leaders are exposed to threats without knowledge of how to protect themselves. Where IT teams do exist, managers are hampered by end user issues, lack of budget or time to truly focus on IT strategy, which includes security.
“Business leaders need to take another look at prioritising investment in people, technology and employee training to combat cyber security and protect the continuity of their business.”
Probrand is a leading technology services provider, with a marketplace to save users time and money buying IT, and a market leading portfolio of IT services that help businesses run, manage and transform operations by cutting cost and risk from their IT.