Dow Jones & Company has become the latest big name victim of a cyberattack, the publishing and financial information firm revealed in a letter to its customers.

It explained that it had recently discovered that “unauthorized access” to its systems had taken place, possibly compromising as many as 3,500 individuals.

While it has yet to find any evidence that suggests data – such as card details and contact information – has been stolen, it is adopting an extremely cautious approach.

Both current and former customers are being provided with information documenting the kind of “support” that will be available to them as a result of this incident.

William Lewis, CEO of Dow Jones & Company, said that while it already allocates “substantial resources” to cybersecurity, it is nevertheless “further fortifying its systems”.

“If you do not receive such a letter, we have no indication that your financial information was involved,” he went on to say.

“In general, it is important to safeguard your personal information. Some easy steps you can take include watching for possible phishing attacks … and using trusted security software that is set to update automatically.”

It is believed that cybercriminals accessed the company’s systems multiple times between August 2012 and July 2015.

In his letter, Mr Lewis said that Dow Jones & Company is working directly with law enforcement to find out who was behind the data breach.

"The Dow Jones attack is believed to be part of a broader campaign involving a number of other victim companies."

He added that it appears to be the case that the attack is “part of a broader campaign involving a number of other victim companies”.

Dow Jones & Company is of the opinion that the criminals behind the attack were looking to acquire information like names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers to send fraudulent solicitations.

These sorts of data breaches are increasingly commonplace, with financial institutions, private enterprises and governments the number one target.

The financial cost is high, with the Ponemon Institute revealing that the average annual cost incurred by enterprises globally now stands at $7.7 million (approximately £6.8 million).