Boards at some of the UK’s biggest companies still don’t fully understand the potential impact of a cyber attack, according to a government report.

The Government’s Cyber Governance Health Check looked at the approach the UK’s FTSE 350 companies take for cyber security.

The 2018 report shows that less than a fifth (16%) of boards have a comprehensive understanding of the impact of loss or disruption associated with cyber threats.

That’s despite almost all (96%) having a cyber security strategy in place.

Additionally, although the majority of businesses (95%) do have a cyber security incident response plan, only around half (57%) actually test them on a regular basis.

However, awareness of the threat of cyber attacks has increased. Almost three quarters (72%) of respondents acknowledge the risk of cyber threats is high, which is a big improvement of only just over half (54%) in 2017.

The reports says implementation of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in 2018 has had a positive effect in increasing the attention that boards are giving cyber threats. Over three quarters (77%) of those responding to last years health check said that board discussion and management of cybersecurity had increased since GDPR. As a result over half of those businesses had also put in place increased security measures.

Digital Minister Margot James said: “The UK is home to world leading businesses but the threat of cyber attacks is never far away. We know that companies are well aware of the risks, but more needs to be done by boards to make sure that they don’t fall victim to a cyber attack.

“This report shows that we still have a long way to go but I am also encouraged to see that some improvements are being made. Cyber security should never be an add-on for businesses and I would urge all executives to work with the National Cyber Security Centre and take up the government’s advice and training that’s available.”

Ciaran Martin, CEO of the NCSC, said: “Every company must fully grasp their own cyber risk – which is why we have developed the NCSC’s Board Toolkit to help them. This survey highlights some urgent issues companies will be able to address by putting our Toolkit’s advice into practice.

“Cyber security is a mainstream business risk, and board members need to understand it in the same way they understand financial or health and safety risks.”

Meanwhile, more work is being done to improve the cyber resilience of business, and a new project has been announced that will help companies understand their level of resilience. The cyber resilience metrics will be based on a set of risk-based principles to allow firms to measure and benchmark the extent to which they are managing their cyber risk profile.

Once developed these indicators will provide board members with information to understand where further action and investment is needed.