Small business owners have been warned that the IT security in many UK businesses is not sufficient and is placing companies at risk.

"Security breaches are entirely preventable - effective and inexpensive technology exists to prevent them," said Nick Garlick, managing director of IT protection firm Nebulas Security.

"It should be so ingrained in their culture that patching and anti-virus updating is routine and regular - it's incredibly frustrating that these lessons still aren't being learned."