51 percent of business decision-makers feel the threat of a data breach

According to a cyber-risk research carried out by Noddle Protect and YouGov, 57% of respondents say their biggest concern would be damage to their reputation, ahead of a loss of customers (17%), fine by a regulator (8%) or fall in share price (7%).

A significant 81% of business decision-makers say their business is prepared to tackle a data breach compared to 12% who say they are not. In order to protect themselves against a data breach, 53% say their business has put in place a business continuity plan, whilst 43% have a crisis management plan; but only 39% have put in place a security monitoring team and only 38% had appointed a board director with responsibility for IT security such as a Chief Risk Officer or Chief Data Officer.

Changes in EU data protection law mean all organisations at risk of a data breach need to be prepared to safeguard their consumers. The biggest impact on regulation will be seen in mid-2016, when the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be adopted by the EU. From mid-2018, if organisations fall victim to a data breach, under the GDPR, they will have to inform their customers when a serious data breach occurs and could be fined up to a maximum of 4% of their global turnover. Worryingly, 68% of business decision makers surveyed have not heard of the GDPR.