28 August 2018

Finance and insurance firms in the UK top the table when it comes to investing in cyber security in 2017-18. Source: www.savoystewart.co.uk

Finance and insurance firms invested the most on cyber security in the 2017-18 financial year, while those in the entertainment,service and membership sectors spent the least, according to Savoy Stewart’s analysis of government research.

Comparing the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s 2017 Cyber Security Breaches Survey with the one for 2018, Savoy Stewart found that finance and insurance firms invested an average of £17,900 in cyber security, an 85 per cent increase from the previous financial year when they spent £9,650.

Meanwhile, companies in the entertainment, service and membership sectors invested an average of £770 which represents an 82 per cent decrease compared to 2016-17 when they spent an average of £4,380.

Savoy Stewart is a commercial property estate agent. While the DCMS surveys include twelve industry sectors, the company specifically focused on eight sectors, including construction, to see how much money 811 firms had invested in cyber security from 2016 to 2018.

Firms in the transport and storage sector invested the second highest amount of money in cyber security at an average of £6,570, a small increase of 9% from the financial year before (£6,040).

Citing figures by the Business Continuity Institute, Savoy Stewart says 53 per cent of UK firms now consider a cyber attack as the main threat facing them in the near future.