More than half of U.S. businesses report being hacked in the past year, according to a new survey.

Those businesses had to spend a considerable sum of money to repair the damage, found the survey of company executives by Zogby Associates on behalf of the HSB insurance company, which offers cyber insurance.

“Of those businesses hacked in the previous 12 months, 72 percent spent over $5,000 to investigate each cyberattack, restore or replace software and hardware, and deal with other consequences,” the survey said. Some 55 percent spent between $50,000 and more than $250,000.

Data loss was reported by 60 percent, while 55 percent suffered interruption of their business. Malware and viruses accounted for more than half the hacks, followed by denial of service attacks, ransomware, cyber extortion and social engineering.

“In addition to the rising number of cyberattacks and related costs, businesses are increasingly anxious about protecting their data” said HSB vice president Timothy Zeilman. “Data is what drives a business and the loss or corruption of information can be devastating.”

The HSB survey found that 56 percent of respondents had purchased cyber insurance for the first time over the past year.

The margin of error for the study is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

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