As many as two-thirds of Irish businesses have experienced at least one cyberattack in the last year, while more than a third have been hit with more than three attacks over the last 12 months, new research has shown. Asked about the impact of cybercrime incidents on their organisation over the last year, 30 per cent of Irish businesses said they had incurred legal costs while a similar percentage had lost revenue.Just over one in five firms said they had been fined by a regulator as a result of the attacks while 32 per cent said they were unable to serve customers in the downtime that arose following a cyber incident.The survey of 250 Irish businesses by insurance broker Gallagher and the Centre for Economics and Business Research highlights how common cyberattacks on Irish firms are and the costs associated with them. “The frequency, severity and intensity of cyberattacks has increased in recent years and our research reflects that,” Gallagher spokesman Michael Cunningham said. “The huge repercussions that these can have on businesses should not be underestimated. Businesses can face substantial hits to their profit, or even bankruptcy, after a breach.”He said legal costs “can put a huge financial strain on businesses, as can reputational damage. As well as leading to a loss of trust and confidence in the company among customers, investors and partners, reputational damage can lead to negative media attention”.The research also found that, despite the number of Irish businesses that have experienced a cyberattack, 95 per cent were confident they could detect and contain a cyber breach, even if the intruder remained hidden for some time, with more than half saying they were “very confident” of this. In addition, 70 per cent of Irish businesses said they expected serious cybercrime incidents to lead to legal or shareholder/investor action for their company and 84 per cent of businesses were aware that company directors could face personal liability or legal actions in the event of a cyber breach.“Shareholder litigation costs are emerging as one of the costliest consequence of cyberattacks for businesses. This is something which Irish businesses need to be increasingly mindful of and to prepare for,” Cunningham said. “As the high-profile attacks on high-street retailers last year show, the legal, financial and reputational fallout from cyberattacks can drag on for months, even years. In the US, breaches have gone even further, triggering costly shareholder lawsuits focused entirely on board oversight and disclosure.”