The UK charity sector will lose the equivalent value of 49 million donations in 2022, around £1.3bn, due to cyber-attacks, research has found.

Data compiled by cyber security provider, ramsac, found all 166,000 UK charities will have to spend the equivalent of 296 donations to cover the costs of cyber security.

Cybercrime is estimated to cost the average UK charity £8,000 in 2022 alone.

The research found that often due to use of personal devices, supplier risk awareness and lack of training, charities falling victim to cybercrime is only accelerating.

ramsac MD, Rob May said: “Charities should not consider themselves safe from cyberattacks just because they’re in the not-for-profit sector. Unfortunately, cyber criminals look for easy targets and due to the sheer nature of charities, their human firewall is often less savvy to various methods of cyberattacks.”

May continued: “Watch out for emails that are from unrecognised addresses, require you to submit personal information, or pressure you into taking action. It’s more important now than ever to ensure your staff are trained and aware of how they strengthen a company’s human firewall.”

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