Biba boss says cyber protection gap becoming ‘even more worrying’

Biba chief executive Graeme Trudgill has warned that the cyber protection gap is becoming “even more worrying”.

In a statement, Trudgill said that there were a ”significant number of businesses” that do not have insurance protection against an attack and that risks were “significant” and ”pervasive”.

According to data published in February 2024 from IT support provider AAG, around a third (32%) of UK businesses reported suffering a cyber attack or breach last year – this rose to 59% for medium-sized companies and 69% for large organisations.

Trudgill felt that through Biba’s partnership with specialist insurance provider CFC, the duo can make inroads to close the protection gap and build cyber resilience.

He said: “It’s important to acknowledge that a significant number of businesses do not have insurance protection against a cyber attack.

”This protection gap is even more worrying given the significant and pervasive cyber risk. Working together, we believe that we can make strong inroads in closing the gap and bring more businesses on board and build cyber resilience across the country.”

Partnership

Trudgill made the comments as CFC and Biba celebrated its 20-year cyber partnership.

Through the deal, which came about in 2004, CFC provides a cyber insurance scheme to Biba’s members.

Over the past two decades, the scheme has evolved into a full service proposition that includes incident response, cyber cover and cyber attack prevention.

Pat Brice, distribution director at CFC, said: “When we first kicked things off in 2004, our mutual ambition was simple – to enable brokers to provide their clients with a tried and tested cyber product they could be confident in.

“Back then, there was little understanding of cyber as a relevant cover for SMEs and few businesses bought into the need for it. A key element of our partnership, therefore, has been to help shape and educate not only the industry as a whole but, more importantly, to help Biba’s membership to deliver innovative cyber solutions to thousands of UK businesses.”

Trudgill added: ”Biba has always looked to support innovation. I was personally involved in launching the scheme with CFC in 2004, which was at that point ahead of its time.

“Since then, CFC has blazed a trail in the cyber market to the point that CFC is synonymous with cyber insurance.”