Three-quarters of customers would reconsider using a company in event of data breach

Deloitte report suggests consumers are savvy enough to take their custom away from a business that could put them at risk of cyber crime

Three-quarters of consumers would reconsider using a company if it failed to keep their personal data safe from cyber criminals and hackers, research by professional services firm Deloitte has warned.

The release of the report comes shortly after the cyber attack against internet service provider TalkTalk, which resulted in some customers wishing to tear up their contracts and move to a new ISP.

According to the newly released 'Consumer data under attack: the growing threat of cyber crime' report, 21 per cent of UK consumers say they've been financially impacted by cyber crime.

Meanwhile, 39 per cent said they've had personal data stolen or deleted after becoming compromised by malware. That figure is up from just 26 per cent in 2013.

Although the report is mainly focused on the impact of cyber theft on consumers, it contains a big warning for businesses; 73 per cent of consumers of would reconsider using a company if it failed to keep their data safe.

"The volume and value of data available online means that consumers are now more exposed than ever before," said Simon Borwick, director in the cyber risk services team at Deloitte, comments.

"Consumer-facing businesses, particularly those that hold a lot of data, are particularly attractive targets for cyber criminals and fraudsters looking to profit from stealing personal information," he warned.

According to Borwick many organisations are "struggling to prepare themselves to deal with the wide range of different cyber attacks".

"Cyber security has moved beyond simply being an IT issue; it is now a business-wide risk which requires immediate attention at the highest level," he added.

This business-wide risk means that the whole organisation needs to play a part in protecting assets and customers from cyber criminals and data breaches.

"Organisations need to understand where their critical cyber assets are, as well as the impact of different assets being attacked," said Borthwick.

"Line-of-business leaders must be central to developing this knowledge, which can be used to quickly identify where to focus investment in improving security, which can include patching weaknesses in their applications, encrypting sensitive data or tightening access control," he added.

The report also discusses the implications of the proposed European Commission regulations around data protection and privacy. The General Data Protection Regulation will aim to give more control to consumers in protecting their data and Deloitte suggests that this could have an impact on what businesses consumers trust.

"New European laws around data protection will aim to give more control to consumers over their own data. There is a clear window of opportunity for businesses to get ahead of the new regulations by implementing robust security measures," he said.

"Not only will this help improve transparency, but it will also go a long way towards maintaining consumers' trust and loyalty," Borthwick concluded.

Computing's Enterprise & Risk Management Summit takes place on 26 November 2015 and is free to attend for qualified end users. Register here.