More than four out of five UK public and private sector organizations (83 percent) believe that they are under increasing threat of cyber-attack, according to a survey by Activity, an independent security specialist that helps commercial and public sector organizations protect their business operations, data networks, business information and online assets.

The survey showed that the biggest concerns were disruption to business services and damage to corporate reputation at 35 percent each. The biggest concern amongst respondents was staff failing to adhere to corporate security polices (40 percent).

Neil O’Connor, managing director of Activity, says: “The growing concerns of the consequences of cyber-attack leading to business interruption and loss of corporate reputation shows that current approaches to information security need to be modified. As well as defending systems from attack, more emphasis needs to be placed on discovering successful attacks and having robust procedures in place to respond to attacks. However, the human element is still one of the major concerns showing that more effort is needed to address the information security culture in many organisations.”