Half of cyber attacks here ‘go undetected’

MORE than half of so-called cyber attacks on Irish businesses may go undetected, according to cyber security expert James Canty of Magnet Networks.

That’s based on the mismatch between a survey that found almost three-quarters of Irish businesses say they have not been subject to an attack, and industry analysis of the frequency of attempted hacks.

Just 20pc of businesses surveyed say they have suffered from a cyber attack in the past two years, according to the Irish Independent Magnet Networks Cyber Security Survey of 258 companies.

Sixteen percent of businesses were unsure whether they’d been subject of an attack and 64pc said that they had been unaffected, according to the survey carried out by Magnet Networks.

That contrasts with Magnet Networks’ estimate that the true industry figure for attacks is 43pc, and that many Irish businesses are unaware that they have suffered a sophisticated cyber breach.

“A new generation of cyber threats has meant that Irish businesses are constantly under attack and they may not realise it,” said Mr Canty yesterday.

Even when an attack is discovered, the average time it takes a business to identify a cyber breach is 191 days, he said.

The Irish Independent Magnet Networks Cyber Security Survey was commissioned ahead of Dublin Information Sec 2018 today at Dublin’s RDS, an INM event.