Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism

CYBER RISKS—A GROWING CONCERN
According to Government website, 
www.gov.uk
, internet-related market in the UK 
is now estimated to be worth 
£
82 billion a year while British businesses earn 
£
1 
in every 
£
5 from the internet. This demonstrates the importance of the internet for 
businesses and individuals alike but research sponsored by Department for Business 
Innovation & Skills in 2013 revealed that in 2012 in the UK, 93% of large organiza-
tions had a security breach, with 87% of small businesses suffering a breach. The 
report estimated that costs incurred as a result of a security breach ranged between 
£
450k-
£
850k and 
£
35k-
£
65k respectively. It is likely because of these significant 
costs related to breaches, that security budgets have increased by 16% in 2013 (over 
2012). This echoes further data from the Department for Business Innovation & 
Skills that 81% of senior management teams in large organizations are becoming 
increasingly concerned about security and see it as high or very high priority.
It is easy to understand the growing concern of those in large (and small) busi-
nesses when security breaches appear to be on the increase and the headlines are filled 
with almost daily stories of businesses being compromised. Cases include high-profile 
names such as “Yahoo!” (400 thousand passwords exposed), “LinkedIn” (6.5 million 
passwords exposed), and “Adobe” (38 million records breached [unofficially this num-
ber is reported to be far higher and estimated to exceed 150 million]). Many more 

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The cyber threat
stories are reported and countless more go unreported, all illustrating the growing need 
to understand the growing risks associated with “cyber.” The following examples offer 
further evidence of the diverse nature of cyber risks:
• On 29th of August 2013 two individuals were charged in connection with an 
attempt to blackmail a Manchester internet company via a cyber-attack. The 
investigation into this incident is currently ongoing, led by Greater Manchester 
Police in association with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. This 
incident highlights the expanding threat Cyber Extortion poses to UK business.
• A multinational insurance company had to pay a multi-million pound sum to 
UK regulators when it was proved they had misplaced the server back-up tapes 
of their IT system containing the private details of over 40,000 of their policy 
holders.
• In 2011 the UK high street cosmetics company “Lush” was hacked via a third-