This article was originally published in the Irish Independent on 19 January 2017

Irish companies have experienced a surge in cybersecurity incidents in the past two years, according to a new survey.

Ernst & Young’s global information security survey reports that cybersecurity incidents have risen by nearly 30pc in the last two years.

The survey blames poor staff awareness and behaviour as the most frequent cause, with cyber attacks aimed at stealing data and disrupting systems the most common causes for concern.

The survey, which was conducted among 1,735 global executives, including 54 in Ireland, found that almost three out of four Irish organisations had experienced a “significant” cybersecurity incident over the last two years.   This figure compares to 57pc globally.

Over half (55pc) of Irish executives surveyed said that they believe their organisation is unlikely to detect a sophisticated attack on their business. By contrast, only a third of executives globally say the same.

While 68pc of Irish businesses say that they have an incident response plan, two-in-five (42pc) have no communications response strategy for a significant cyber attack involving data compromise and 15pc said that they had no breach detection capability whatsoever.

The research also found that the adoption of cyber insurance is more prevalent in Ireland than elsewhere, with nearly two-in-five (39pc) Irish respondents already having cyber insurance and a further one-in-five (20pc) actively looking for appropriate cover.

The Ernst & Young report was published to coincide with the opening of EY’s newly expanded advanced security centre in Dublin.