More than half of U.S. businesses (53%) have experienced a cyber attack in the past year, according to a survey of business executives released today by The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), part of Munich Re.

Of those businesses hacked in the previous 12 months, 72% spent over $5,000 to investigate each cyber-attack, restore or replace software and hardware, and deal with other consequences, the nationwide study conducted by Zogby Analytics for HSB showed.

“In addition to the rising number of cyber attacks and related costs, businesses are increasingly anxious about protecting their data” said Timothy Zeilman, vice president for HSB, a leading provider of cyber insurance. “Data is what drives a business and the loss or corruption of information can be devastating.”
More than a third of the hacked businesses (38) percent spent more than $50,000 to respond: 10% spent $100,000 to $250,000, and 7% more than $250,000. Seven in 10 executives were concerned that data would be destroyed as a result of a cyber attack and 62 percent were concerned about equipment damage.

The survey results backed up their worries: the most common consequence of cyber attacks was data loss (60%), followed by business interruption (55%). Malware (53%) and viruses (51%) were the most common types of cyber attacks. Businesses and institutions also experienced distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks (35%); ransomware (29%); cyber extortion (25%) and social engineering (13%).

Security experts warn that employees are a weak link in safeguarding information and the business leaders agreed. When asked to identify the biggest risk to cyber security, the respondents cited negligent and disgruntled employees (45 percent) and hackers (37%).

Increasingly, businesses are looking for financial protection against cyber attacks. Almost two-thirds of companies (61%) purchased or increased their level of cyber insurance coverage over the past year, and 56% of them purchased cyber insurance for the first time.

Zogby Analytics was commissioned by Hartford Steam Boiler to survey 403 chief executive, chief information, chief technology, chief operating, chief financial officers and other senior executives in the United States. They represented a variety of businesses and institutions with revenues ranging from under $5 million to more than $200 million. The margin for error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.