Both the government and the private sector are having to devote more attention to the increased threat of hacking, according to new data.

More than 200 UK companies are targeted by hackers every day, increasing the need for more secure networks, according to Gartner.

Kelly Kavanagh, research director at Gartner, said: "Although the Internet helps small and medium businesses to enhance communications and collaboration among employees, customers, business partners and suppliers, it also potentially exposes enterprise systems and corporate data to the bad guys."

Meanwhile, VNUNet reports that the government has fought off more than 6,500 digital attacks already this year. Official figures show that the Cabinet Office was subject to 1,167 digital attacks last month alone, out of 5,857 during the course of the year.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has detected 564 attacks so far this year, with 34 in October, but it said all the attacks had been stopped by existing security measures.

The Ministry of Defence said it was "subject to widespread and frequent attempts to probe its electronic boundaries".