Risk of cyber attacks is on the increase as businesses also struggle with snow, ash and influenza. Nearly two thirds 62 percent of managers report that cyber security threats are increasingly posing a serious risk to their business.

Nearly a third of UK organisations (32 percent) having come under a cyber attack of some sort in the past 12 months, according to new research published by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) today. The ‘Managing Threats in a Dangerous World’ report, published in association with Aon, the British Standards Institution (BSI), the Business Continuity Institute (BCI) and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office, examines how prepared organisations were for unexpected and damaging disruptions to their day-to-day operations over the past year. These include cyber threats, which saw 12 percent of companies losing confidential information and nine percent suffering a significant attempt to hack into their network in the last year; heavy snow, which caused disruption to 92 percent of companies; the volcanic ash cloud, which impacted 53 percent; and the influenza epidemic, which also caused problems for 53 percent.

The findings, released to coincide with the start of Business Continuity Awareness Week, also show that the recent media focus on high profile business continuity failures has had a real impact on the UK’s business planning, with 15 percent of managers feeling that Deepwater Horizon had strengthened the case for their organisation to develop robust business continuity management plans; and 14 percent believing Wikileaks had caused their organisation to revisit their security arrangements.

Yet despite 82 percent of those surveyed reporting that their senior management view business continuity management as important or very important, just 58 percent say they have plans in place to cater for unexpected disruptions. A further 16 percent didn’t know whether or not their company has set crisis plans they should be following. This is of particular concern in the private sector, where fewer than half of businesses (49 percent) are prepared for threats to their day-to-day running.

Despite this, the report shows clear advantages for organisations which do have plans in place to deal with crises when they hit. Of those who had to activate plans, 84 percent agreed it reduced disruption and 77 percent stated that any cost in developing plans is offset by the business benefits they bring.Ruth Spellman, Chief Executive of CMI, says: “Today’s report shows that UK organisations must be better at putting plans in place to deal with disruptions to their day-to-day business. Every time an unexpected event interrupts or halts the operations of a business, charity or public sector body in this country, UK plc suffers – yet with good management, this could be avoided. “With so many organisations now relying on online networks and systems to function, cyber security breaches have joined extreme weather, contagious illness and transport disruptions as one of the top risks to businesses performance. Managers need to ensure that they have proactive plans in place to deal with the potential threats that could impact their business. Anticipating and planning for threats will help drastically reduce the negative impacts on your organisation, should they occur, as well as helping you recover faster from any ill effects.”

As part of its commitment to revitalising management and leadership in the UK, CMI is calling for all organisations to learn the lessons of the last 12 months in line with the report’s recommendations. These include:Assembling a team of specialists from across the business to identify specific potential threats that would prevent or diminish its ability to operate and plan for them. Integrating business continuity planning into the wider management strategy – understanding threats and putting processes in place to mitigate them can give businesses a competitive advantage.

Testing crisis plans regularly to ensure they are comprehensive and robust – a quarter of organisations with crisis plans have never tested them, running the risk that the plans don’t work when they are most needed.Ensuring that coordinating a media response is part of all plans – 61 percent of managers believe that reputation damage is now a more significant threat to their business than financial loss.

Ensuring that key suppliers also have crisis plans in place – the findings show that just five percent of organisations check whether their supply chain will be able to survive a major disruption.Spellman continues: “In post-recession, ‘age of austerity’ Britain, accountability and transparency are key to success. All organisations have a responsibility to their stakeholders, shareholders, customers, employees and partners to develop plans to ensure they can continue to operate through difficult or uncertain circumstances.”

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