Cyber security threats are growing for Irish companies, 81% of whom have been targeted by cyber criminals at least once in the last 12 months.

This and other worrying findings were discussed at a William Fry Breakfast Briefing recently, attended by over 170 representatives from Ireland’s business and technology sectors. Attendees also heard how to increase protection of their data.

Among the speakers for the event were John Magee, associate in technology at William Fry, and Dave O’Reilly, chief technologist at Wicklow-based financial services security firm FTR Solutions.

O’Reilly drew from a 2015 survey of 1,000 IT security professionals to underline the extent of companies’ vulnerability and unpreparedness regarding cyber-attacks.

He noted that 70% of breaches were detected by a third party, while in 46% of the cases identified by survey respondents, it took more than four months to detect an incident (and a further three months to mitigate the risk). Further, 73% of respondents believed that their company’s data was vulnerable to being hacked.

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Said O’Reilly: “Every day, criminals are using more professional and sophisticated methods to carry out identity theft, payment card fraud, online banking attacks and many other predicate offences.

“Following a successful data breach, cyber criminals are using various money laundering tools and infrastructure to illegally extract funds. The collective impact is staggering.

“Globally, billions are lost every year due to cyber-attacks and repairing systems following data breaches.”

The first thing that companies should do to counteract the threat, according to O’Reilly, is review and update their employee education policies and detection and response capabilities.

He added: “This would include reviewing the company’s current response infrastructure; investing in capability as required and conducting periodic simulated incidents/exercises.”

Paul Fisher, associate in insurance at William Fry, highlighted the value of effective insurance to counter the costs of a data breach. He spoke about a number of international companies, including Adobe, Sony and JP Morgan Chase, who had suffered from either financial data or non-financial data breaches.

Paul Fisher outlined what key provisions should be included in insurance policies to ensure companies have the best possible insurance cover in place.

Also speaking at the William Fry briefing was John Magee, who reminded attendees that prevention was better than cure.

“Prepare in advance how to deal with a data breach in order to minimise and manage reputational damage and regulatory risk,” he explained.

“Short -term measures include putting the issue of cyber-security on the board agenda, the creation of a cross-departmental working group and reviewing legal and regulatory obligations.

“However, in the longer-term, a co-ordinated, multi-disciplinary and strategic approach is essential to adequately prepare, manage and respond to cyber incidents.”

(from left) John Magee and Paul Fisher from William Fry, with Dave O’Reilly FTR Solutions and David Cullen William Fry