With the rise of technology comes the massive rise of data. Companies now have access to large amounts of extremely sensitive and valuable information. With this has come a number of unique problems that businesses face as they become prey to hackers. With numerous high-profile hacks or data breaches such as British Airways, T-Mobile US and Metro PCS every organisation has been forced to take a look at their own cyber-security and take proactive steps to become “cyber-secure”. There are steps on what to do if you have suffered a data breach.
We explore 10 shocking statistics about the cyber-security in small businesses and why it should be at the forefront of your organisations mind.
1. 52% of small businesses experienced cyber-security breaches in the past year
The more the company grows the more data you will hold and the more lucrative a breach becomes for cyber criminals. It has become more of a common theme for small businesses to get attacked as the sophistication of the hackers grows and the amount of data available increases.
2. 60% of small firms don’t know the source of the most disruptive cyber-security breach or attacks in the last 12 months.
You can’t address a security issue that you are unable to identify or see. A specialist problem requires a specialist solution and small businesses must be proactive to protect themselves against these tricky IT security breaches. Advantage have a Managed IT Services team that can offer bespoke support for your business.
3. In 2017, only 14% of small businesses had formal cyber-security incident management processes in place
A very concerning statistic is that not only do businesses struggle with creating policies to cover their cyber-security risk but not many even have a recovery policy in place for when a breach occurs. If there isn’t a procedure in place to manage this problem hacks can escalate and cause further and more profound business problems. We also provide a Disaster Recovery service should this problem occur.
4. In 2017, only 25% of small firms gave their staff cyber-security training
This statistic indicates how low in the pecking order cyber-security is for staff and management. Training staff to become better at protecting their data across different devices and providing them with best practices goes a long way towards avoiding severe data breaches that put your workforce and consumers at risk.
5. 72% of businesses have been affected by fraudulent emails
With fraudulent emails becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot, many unsuspecting businesses are becoming victim to phishing email scams (here are some tips to spot a phishing email). If employees are not trained in the knowledge of what to look out for then your company is more susceptible to these breaches. This can include highly target attacks such as whaling emails which encourages senior decision makers to perform an action such as wiring funds to different accounts.
6. 89% of cyber-security policies are related to remote or mobile working
With the move to the gig economy and the increase in remote working, employees are sharing data across multiple devices and employees who own personal devices are less likely to have the same company – owned technology or security and are, therefore, an easier target for cyber criminals.
7. 26% of organisations who suffered a breach have taken no action to prevent another attack
Once a breach has been detected over a quarter of companies do not take proactive steps to protect themselves from a repeat circumstance. Cyber-attacks can be frequent occurrences and consequently need continuous IT security and protection.
8. On average it takes 120 days to discover a data breach
Data breaches are not always instantly noticed. This means that hackers can have an average of around a third of a year to collate data that can damage your business, clients and reputation. This is a lengthy amount of time to also understand the businesses processes and create longer lasting issues.
9. In Q1 2017 a new malware strain was discovered every 4.2 seconds
This rapid growth of malware leaves businesses that do not have strong IT protection vulnerable.
10. Cyber-security breaches cost UK businesses approximately £30 billion in 2016
There are real financial consequences of cyber-security breaches for both small and larger businesses alike. One attack can be extremely harmful and difficult to recover from in the case of small businesses and bigger companies who have a lot of valuable information to lose. Have you taken into account the potential financial risks of not having adequate security in your decision making?
If you are concerned about your own IT security why not check out our own tailored Security Solutions or have Advantage IT Support to make sure that your current set up is up to scratch and up to date.
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Statistics taken from Gdata , IoD and Ipsos
