EDITOR’S QUESTION
ONE YEAR ON, WHAT
HAS BEEN THE
IMPACT OF GDPR ON
DATA SECURITY?
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N
ew statistics from the Department for Digital, Culture,
Media and Sport (DCMS) have shown a reduction in the
percentage of businesses suffering a cyberbreach or
attack in the last year.
The 2019 Cyber Security Breaches Survey shows that 32% of
businesses identified a cyberattack in the last 12 months – down
from 43% the previous year.
The reduction, the government says, is partly due to the introduction
of tough new data laws under the Data Protection Act and the
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
A total of 30% of businesses and 36% of charities have made
changes to their cybersecurity policies and processes as
a result of GDPR being implemented in May 2018.
The most common breaches or attacks were phishing emails,
followed by instances of others impersonating their organisation
online, viruses or other malware including ransomware.
Digital Minister, Margot James, said: “Following the introduction of new
data protection laws in the UK, it’s encouraging to see that business and
charity leaders are taking cybersecurity more seriously than ever before.
“However, with less than three in 10 of those companies having
trained staff to deal with cyberthreats, there’s still a long way to go
to make sure that organisations are better protected.
“We know that tackling cyberthreats is not always at the top of business
and charities’ list of things to do, but with the rising costs of attacks, it’s
not something organisations can choose to ignore any longer.”
However, of those businesses that did suffer attacks, the typical
median number of breaches has risen from four in 2018 to six in
2019. Therefore, businesses and charities suffering cyberattacks
and breaches appear to be experiencing more attacks than in
previous years.
Where a breach has resulted in a loss of data or assets, the average
cost of a cyberattack on a business has gone up by more than
£1,000 since 2018 to £4,180. Business leaders are now being urged
to do more to protect themselves against cybercrime.
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