The financial sector is the most worried about computer hackers trying to steal data and money, says a survey pinning the cost to businesses globally at $315 billion.

Cyber attacks around the world cost businesses at least $315 billion over the 12 months to the end of May this year, with financial firms such as banks most fearful of threats, according to a survey by Grant Thornton of 2,500 company chiefs in 35 countries.

Firms operating in the wealth management space, such as JP Morgan, have been among businesses hit by hackers. Banks feel particularly vulnerable: a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers in July 2013 said 39 per cent of financial services companies that suffered from economic crime last year said they had been hit by cybercrime, compared to 17 per cent in other industries (source: Reuters).

The Grant Thornton International Business Report found that almost half of firms are putting themselves in the firing line with no comprehensive strategy to prevent digital crime.

According to the IBR, 15 per cent of businesses say they have faced a cyber attack in the past year. Businesses in the EU (19 per cent) and North America (18 per cent) have been most heavily targeted. However, no region has been immune. The Australian Cyber Security Centre recently raised concerns about the level of attacks there, while hacks into customer databases affected the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Regional impact
Cyber attacks are estimated to have cost Asia-Pacific businesses $81 billion in the past 12 months, while firms in the European Union ($62 billion) and North America ($61 billion) are also counting the significant cost of attacks, Grant Thornton said.

The average cyber attack costs businesses 1.2 per cent of revenues. But despite the clear risk, just over half of firms surveyed (52 per cent) said they currently have a cyber security strategy in place.

“Cyber attacks are an increasingly significant danger for business. Not just cost in a financial sense, but serious reputational damage can be inflicted if attacks undermine customer confidence: just ask Ashley Madison. Despite this, nearly half of firms still lack a strategy to deal with the cyber threat,” Paul Jacobs, global leader of cyber security at Grant Thornton, said. (Thornton was referring to the Ashley Madison dating website.)

The sector most concerned by the threat of a cyber attack is financial services, with 74 per cent of businesses saying it is a threat; this is also the sector with the joint-highest recorded instances of cyber crime (26 per cent). At the other end of the spectrum, only 10 per cent of transport firms globally have reported a cyber attack in the past 12 months and just 27 per cent perceive it as a threat.