Businesses are losing billions of pounds due to information breaches.

Some 74 per cent of SMEs say they have been subject to malicious security attacks in the past year, compared with 35 per cent in 2008, according to professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The main types of breaches reported were infection by viruses or malicious software, theft or fraud committed by staff and attacks from unauthorised outsiders breaking into the organisation's network.

Chris Potter, partner at PWC, says: ‘All types of breaches were on the increase and a conservative estimate is that the total cost to business in billions of pounds is now into double figures.’

Of the small businesses polled, 75 per cent say they now assess information security risks, compared to just 48 per cent who did so in 2008, with 43 per cent expecting more incidents next year.

Andrew Beard, director at PWC, says: ‘Part of the solution to ensure better security is encrypting data. There has been huge improvements in this area with regard to laptops, USB sticks and other removable media.’

See also: Coaching for SME directors