A fifth (20 per cent) of UK businesses have already invited hackers to assess their cyber security and systems and a further 37 per cent are open to the idea.
The report from Radware finds that three in five respondents experienced a cyber attack in the last 12 months.
Concerns over the growing threat lead four in five respondents to state that security is now a CEO-level concern while 33 per cent state that a change in C-level awareness is critical in order to thwart the latest attacks.
Among the leading concerns for executives is the Internet of Things (IoT), with connected devices identified by 29 per cent as ‘extremely likely’ to be a target for cyber criminals over the next three to five years.
Although businesses understand the threat, many are unsure how or where to direct their resources to defend against it, leading to the consideration of hiring an ex-hacker.
Ransomware is high on the agenda too, with around one in seven respondents experiencing a ransom attack over the last year. In fact, at least three companies said they were under attack at the time of the survey.
Although UK executives express an unwillingness to pay a ransom, with 9 per cent saying they would pay, compared to 23 per cent in the US, seven of