The Government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey shows that 32% of businesses identified breaches or attacks in 2023 (this was 39% in 2022), but this is much higher at 59% for medium-sized businesses.

• The report findings show that cybercrime remains prevalent among larger organisations, with many smaller organisations still underreporting.
• It's estimated that, across all UK businesses, there were approximately 2.39 million instances of cybercrime and approximately 49,000 instances of fraud due to cybercrime in the last 12 months.
• The average annual cybercrime cost for businesses is approximately £15,300 per victim.

The frequency of cyberattacks is on the rise

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2023 report from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) revealed the frequency of cyber attacks is similar to last year - 40% found they were being attacked once a month. In addition, 21% of Businesses also say that they experience breaches or attacks at least once a week.

In 2023 businesses are all working in a much different economic climate than in previous years. Smaller organisations face rising costs and must combat daily challenges with financial planning due to high inflation, increased energy costs and overall economic uncertainty. As a result, cyber security has fallen down the priority list among directors and trustees in smaller businesses (and charities). In addition, fewer micro businesses and low-income charities view cyber security as a high priority, which has seen poorer cyber hygiene measures in place amongst smaller organisations.

We’re a small company. The biggest issue is trying to survive on a week-by-week basis. We can’t afford to allocate sums to cyber security. I’ll spend it as and when I have it, or when I need to. – Managing director, small business

The report shows that micro-business owners say cyber security is a high priority (68%), but just 28% of small businesses are training their staff. It's so important to keep your staff trained; they need to be aware of the latest scams and know where and when to report when things don't look right.

The government encourages businesses, charities and educational institutions to follow the free help and guidance from the UK cyber security experts at the National Cyber Security Centre (,NCSC) and the National Cyber Resilience Centre group.

At the North West Cyber Resilience Centre, we help protect small businesses from online crime. Using the skills and knowledge of our team, we can offer your business a range of free resources to build up your cyber resilience.

There were approximately 2.39 million instances of cyber crime and approximately 49,000 instances of fraud as a result of cyber crime in the last 12 months.

Start your Cyber Security journey with these free resources:

• Free Members Newsletter - Join over 700 businesses already signed up to receive our weekly security updates.
• Cyber Incident Response Plan - contains documents to help support your business plan's response to a cyber incident.
• Small Business Guide to Cyber Security - This includes: What is Cyber Security? What are the different types of cybercrime? & further free resources & support.
• Cyber Health Check - this can provide your business with a summary of your Cyber Risks and an action plan to help protect you against the latest cyber threats.
• Cyber Security Checklist(s) - helping you remember how to keep your business secure from online criminals.