"We know from our research that cyber attacks can cause serious reputational damage," said Breuil. "A recent report suggested that over three-quarters of people would cease working with an organization in the event of a security breach, and the average share price drop in response to notifying the market of a network security breach is 5%."

Gigi Cheah, partner and Asia lead for Technology and Data Privacy, Norton Rose, said "There's an increasing awareness of the need to protect data, whether of individuals or companies, with corresponding strengthening of privacy and security legislation worldwide."

"The penalties imposed by these laws, for failure to adequately safeguard data, are also increasing," said Cheah. "Proposed changes to the EU data protection framework include a maximum penalty of 2% of an offending corporation's global annual turnover."

The increased business risk caused by cyber attacks is raising attention among many enterprises. Many insurers -- including Chubb, Zurich and Chartis -- are providing cyber insurance coverage for Hong Kong enterprises.