Viruses and hackers cost UK business £10bn a year

Security breaches from computer viruses, hacker attacks and staff misuse of the internet are costing British business £10bn a year, according to a DTI backed report published yesterday.

The biannual survey of 1,000 companies by PricewaterhouseCooper shows losses are 50% higher on the 2004 figure - this despite increased spending on security systems. Larger firms saw the number of security breaches fall, but the average cost of each incident rose to £65,000-£130,000 in disruption.

Small companies saw a big rise in the number of attacks, with average losses of £8,000-£17,000.