UK small and medium - sized enterprises ( businesses ) are unaware of – and unnecessarily respond to – cyber attacks and data breaches , according to a survey conducted by Aon . 8 out of 10 businesses do not view such attacks as a threat , with 31 % not insured against them . Furthermore , 68 % of SMEs do not realise the requirement to report breaches to the Information Commissioner ’s Office . Aon noted one in three did not classify personal information stolen through a cyber attack as a data breach . 66% of SMEs were affected by a loss of data, according to the survey. Around 66 % of SMEs suffered a data loss in 2015 , per the National Data Security Centre .
UK small and medium - sized enterprises ( businesses ) are unaware of – and unnecessarily respond to – cyber attacks and data breaches , according to a survey conducted by Aon . 8 out of 10 businesses do not view such attacks as a threat , with 31 % not insured against them . Furthermore , 68 % of SMEs do not realise the requirement to report breaches to the Information Commissioner ’s Office . Aon noted one in three did not classify personal information stolen through a cyber attack as a data breach . Around 66 % of SMEs suffered a data loss in 2015 , per the National Data Security Centre .