At Evaris, we are all too aware that UK businesses and individuals are under more threat than ever before from cyber attacks. According to the recent Cyber Security Breaches Survey:

• Over 4 in 10 (43%) businesses experienced a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months
• Under 3 in 10 (27%) businesses have a formal cyber security policy or policies
• Large firms reported an average of 12 attacks per year that they knew about, while six attacks per year were reported by medium-sized firms

Cyber attacks are extremely costly to businesses; The Cost of Cyber Crime study estimates that the economic cost of cyber crime to UK businesses is £21 billion per year. In addition,  IBM and The Ponemon Institute recently calculated the global average cost of a data breach to an organisation is $3.86 million (£2.9 million).

Worryingly, innocent individuals and customers are affected too - the Cost of Cyber Crime report found that the annual cost of cyber crime to UK citizens is £3.1 billion - around £47 per person.

It’s for this reason that we believe it is critical for more to be done to protect businesses and individuals in the UK from the growing threat of cyber crime.

We’re calling for change - sign our petition

Evaris has launched a petition to make the optional Cyber Essentials scheme from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) a legal requirement for small and medium-sized businesses and the more comprehensive Cyber Essentials PLUS scheme mandatory for large businesses.

For more details on the petition and to show your support by signing it, visit: http://chng.it/vN49nYNQ

Support for our petition 

Vince Warrington, CEO from Protective Intelligence 

"I'm supporting the petition because I've had to deal with the consequences of cyber attacks and seen the destruction they can cause.

The government must act to make Cyber Essentials mandatory for all businesses - it's vital that we make the UK as safe as possible for businesses to operate in, and by making sure they all adhere to the ten most basic steps of cyber protection the government can create an environment where businesses fully understand the commitment required to protect themselves and their customers from cyber attack.”