Over half of all security breaches in the UK originate from inside threats, survey shows

Some 55% of all security breaches in the UK originate from someone with access already, according to a survey about public sector data security in the country, cited by CBR.

The survey revealed that 65% of the respondents have serious concerns regarding data security in their organization, with simple loss of data and errors of staff being the biggest concerns (60%), followed by compliance and IT system failures (40%). External hacking was a concern for more than 35% of respondents, while denial of service by hackers raised the least concern.

IT operating costs, cloud security, theft of laptops, lack of staff training and failure of staff to follow simple procedures were other concerns cited by the respondents.

According to the survey, 60% said staff error caused data security lapses in their organisations, while 40% blamed simple loss of data. Nearly 75% said they intend to improve data security by tightening procedures.

The UK government aims to protect UK businesses against cyberattacks by investing £860 million by the end of 2016. Last summer, authorities launched a plan to shield small businesses from cyber criminals and opened a new London-based Cyber Demonstration Centre.

GovNewsDirect conducted the survey at the end of 2015 in collaboration with access rights management firm 8MAN.