UK businesses struggle to balance security budgets as cyber incidents soar

UK businesses have experienced on average 30 cyber incidents over the last twelve months, marking a 25% increase compared to last year, according to a new report out today.

Despite spending more than £40,000 a year on cyber protection such as vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and red team engagements, the report found that more than a quarter (27%) of organisations think their cyber security budget is inadequate to fully protect them from growing threats.

The data comes from iomart and Oxford Economics’ ‘State of cyber security in the UK 2023’ report, which surveyed 500 executives from UK businesses.

It found that tight budgets continue to be the biggest barrier for improved cyber security. In fact, the rising cost of cyber insurance premiums is one of the biggest financial outlays, with 70% of businesses noting a rise over the last two years.

With the cost of remediation and other businesses expenses, such as energy, on the rise, stretched budgets are causing blind spots in businesses’ cyber strategies.

Only 37% of respondents have security embedded into all their business processes and functions, while 14% admitted that security is only addressed on an ad hoc or as-needed basis.

Meanwhile during the COVID-19 pandemic, 41% of organisations were forced to sacrifice cyber security to keep the lights on.

The report also found that a lack of key skills remains one of the main concerns to tackling rising cyber threats. So much so that 30% of cyber staff admit to currently facing burnout.

This pressure also means that less than half of companies are confident in their ability to handle the biggest threats facing organisations, including phishing (56%) and malware (55%).

Emerging technologies

Despite these challenges, businesses are optimistic about the role of nascent technologies such as AI and ML.

More than a third (38%) of businesses believe the use of AI and ML will be a major trend in cyber security over the next two years, particularly to support with email screening (78%) and contextual analytics (69%).

Commenting on the report, Lucy Dimes CEO at iomart said: “Our latest security report with Oxford Economics is a temperature check on the cyber challenges businesses face. It is clear the threat of cybercrime is rising, but there’s a lack of confidence in organisations’ abilities to protect themselves against it.

“There are many factors at play that are influencing this, from rising energy costs and increased insurance premiums to skills shortages and staff burnout, which are causing huge challenges for businesses.

“While this may be the case, there are ways to relieve these pressures, with effective strategies being developed and new technologies such as AI being embraced. Working alongside trusted partners can also ensure companies have adequate cyber strategies tailored to their business needs and challenges.”

The ‘State of cyber security in the UK 2023’ report surveyed 500 executives from a range of industries — most with more than 1,000 employees — all based in the UK.