What are the top cyber exposures facing UK businesses?

In a recent IB Talk podcast, Chris McMurray, managing director of cyber at Travelers Europe, shared how he has seen the cyber security landscape change over the past few years, and why the need for appropriate cyber coverage has never been more apparent.

“The first thing to say is that cyber doesn’t recognise geographical boundaries,” he said. “So the exposures facing UK businesses are the same that businesses are facing globally. Ransomware remains a high-level threat, and indications are that the number of ransomware-related incidents has continued to increase at pace in the last year.

“I don’t think that’s something that’s likely to slow down, and companies from SME level right to through to large multinationals are all in scope for threat actors. In addition, we are seeing an increased amount of business email compromise. Phishing attacks have developed to a very sophisticated level, from the early days of an email with spelling mistakes or other obvious tells that are easier to spot.”

McMurray noted that, at the moment, firms in the professional services space and the financial services sector, in particular, seem to be seeing a lot of activity. That’s why it’s imperative that companies have an ongoing training program to help their employees identify when something doesn’t look or feel quite right, he said, and so prevent the threat from escalating.

“In addition, a data breach leading to a loss of data or the threat to leak data remains a major concern,” he said. “This is due to the cost of not just removing the slate from your network, but also potential regulatory punishment. And of course, any reputational damage that comes along with that too.”