Cyber attacks among polled U.S. business costing at least US$5,000

Seven in 10 of the surveyed U.S. businesses that experienced a cyber attack in the last year spent in excess of US$5,000 to investigate each incident, restore or replace software and hardware, and address any other consequences.

However, 38% of hacked businesses spent more than $50,000 to respond, note findings of the nationwide poll of businesses execs – conducted by Zogby Analytics on behalf of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), part of Munich Re.

Related: One in three Americans hacked in the past year, new HSB cyber survey finds

More specifically, 10% of respondent report their firms spent US$100,000 to US$250,000, and 7% say the companies spent more than $250,000.

The findings further indicate that 53% of respondents report their businesses experienced a cyber attack over the last 12 months, HSB notes in a press release issued last week.

As well as cost, though, is concern about data. “In addition to the rising number of cyber attacks and related costs, businesses are increasingly anxious about protecting their data,” Timothy Zeilman, vice president for HSB, says in the statement.

Protection of data is critically important in light of the fact that “data is what drives a business and the loss or corruption of information can be devastating,” Zeilman says.

Related: Cybercrime drains US$11.7 million per business annually, up 62% in five years, study finds

Beyond the data itself, seven in 10 executives voiced concern that a cyber attack would destroy the data and 62% cited worry over possible equipment damage.

The worry was borne out by finding, namely that the most common consequence of cyber attacks was data loss, reported by 60% of respondents, followed by business interruption, cited by 55% of those polled.

Other survey findings include the following:

• 53% of respondents cite malware and 51% report viruses were the most common types of cyber attacks;
• 35% of those polled experienced distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, 29% experienced ransomware, 25% experienced cyber extortion and 13% experienced social engineering;
• negligent and disgruntled employees was identified by 45% and hackers by 37% of respondents as the biggest risk to cyber security; and
• 61% of those taking part in the survey purchased or increased their level of cyber insurance coverage over the past year (with 56% of them buying the insurance for the first time).

Related: Cyberattacks cost large businesses in North America an average of US$1.3 million: Kaspersky