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“The fact that over a fifth of consumers have had their personal details stolen should come as no surprise – criminals seek money, consumers have it, and personal details are the online route to it. The criminals are entrepreneurial, well-resourced and technically able, so it is unrealistic to hope to prevent breaches. They will occur, so we should ensure that everyone, from consumers to businesses, know what to do to recover. According to research from Fujitsu, only 9% of UK consumers believe organisations are doing enough to protect their data.

“Because of this, it’s vital organisations take a proactive approach. They must focus on reacting quickly when a breach occurs, and must have well-rehearsed plans in place to understand what happened, minimise the impact, communicate clearly with their customers and restore normal operations as soon as possible. To do this, they need to integrate threat intelligence and other information sources to provide the context necessary to deal with today’s advanced cyber threats. Implementing a strong security education programme underpinned by a robust security framework. This would allow companies to get on the front foot in combating these types of threats. It’s also important that organisations communicate how they are using personal data to provide benefits to the customer, in a secure manner, and that the right security controls and policies are in place, to remain trusted in the eyes of the consumer.”