Newly collected data has revealed the five worst industries for cybersecurity and those that are most at risk from future cyberattacks.

Research carried out by FoxTech suggests that among the worst industries for cybersecurity breaches are computer software development companies, publishing, research, transportation, trucking and railroad and civil engineering.

The cyber risk score – calculated using public information and an analysis of a wide range of cyber security indicators – revealed the risk severity of potential cybersecurity breaches across the UK.

Companies with scores of 75 or more are at “extreme risk” of future cybersecurity problems, while those below 25 are at lower risk.

Results showed that software development firms score an average of 166, followed by publishing with 152, research with 115, transportation, trucking and railroad at 111 and civil engineering scoring 102.

Commenting on the numbers, Anthony Green, CTO and cyber-crime specialist at FoxTech, said: “We audited hundreds of companies across a wide range of sectors and found that while industries such as banking (cyber risk score 6) and performing arts (cyber risk score 5) are at very low risk of a potential attack, other industries fell woefully short when it came to ensuring their cyber protection was up to scratch.”

The issue is not that companies do not care about cybersecurity, Green adds, but that they are unaware that their IT infrastructure is “not robust enough” to combat future attacks.

Green continued: “In many cases, companies will be entirely unaware that the antivirus or endpoint protection software they have invested in simply isn’t robust or far-reaching enough to prevent a cyber-attack from occurring.

“Alternatively, companies might be under the misapprehension that they are safe from attack because they have invested in cloud-based services. Sometimes, a company can be exposed by something as simple as poorly managed user accounts, software that is out of date or inadvertently leaving their database visible to the internet and therefore exposed to hackers.”

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Data has found that, on average, hackers will spend around 207 days between breaching a company’s IT security and exploiting it. Green comments that it is a gradual process rather than something that happens overnight.

He continued: “The fact that hackers are going undetected for more than half a year tells us that there is time to prevent cyberattacks from occurring and an opportunity to protect companies and their customers on a much higher level – so long as businesses are aware of the potential weaknesses in their systems and how they can fix them, even if a hacker is already gathering what they need.

“The best thing to do for any company is to arrange a cybersecurity audit of their IT systems, process and procedures. This won’t necessarily be through their IT provider, but via an independent company that is set up to focus fully on cybersecurity, analysing cybercrimes and data breaches – ultimately an ‘anti-hacker’.”

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