Cyber Resilience is the Future for SMBs
We are in a time of accelerated business cycles for businesses of all sizes, particularly for small businesses. Cyber-attacks are up in SMBs. Managed services and cloud adoption protects small businesses from cyber-attacks that can be costly and impact long-term brand reputation.
Small businesses are an easier target for attackers. 43% of cyber-attacks were aimed at small businesses according to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Study. 69% of cyber-attacks are becoming more targeted against specific industries and companies. Among common attacks, 57% are phishing and social engineering.
Successful cyber attackers leverage vulnerabilities. Utilizing cloud services and outsourcing is an efficient approach to counteract threats to your small- medium-sized business. An innumerable number of small businesses are underestimating the threat of cyber threats. Only 14% of SMBs consider their migration strategy to be extremely successful. This shows how many SMBs are unaware and under-prepared for security breaches. By moving over to a cloud and finding trusted managed services, small businesses can pay an expert to take care of their cybersecurity.
In an interview with Fox Business, ‘Shark Tank’ star and Cyderes CEO Robert Herjavec, says “If you’re a small [business] the first recommendation is to move to the cloud. You should not be doing your own firewalling, your own hosting, your own anything. Go to a cloud provider. Go to Amazon, Google Cloud. Google Cloud’s whole pitch is that they’re the most secure cloud-based system.”
This can affect small to large businesses, regardless of their business reach.
“84% of consumers that know a company has been comprised, will switch suppliers. That’s the real danger. It’s not just brand reputation. The average cost of a cyber breach to a corporation is $4.2 million. But that’s small compared to the damage it does your brand and to the consumer.”
SMBs that have a dated security setup needs to make changes or there business will be left behind as the rest of economy moves to the cloud. This digitalization is creating a gap between businesses using old systems and new systems. Attackers will exploit this gap.
Cyber-attacks interrupt regular operations, create uncertainty with consumers, and impact brand reputation. Ponemon Institute findings in the State of Cybersecurity Report indicate that SMBs are noting the following types of vulnerabilities:
- Inadequate security processes: 45% claim their methods are unsuccessful at lessening attacks
- Regularity of incidents: 66% have had a cyber-attack in the last year
- Targeted hits: 69% say that cyber incidents are becoming more targeted
The Greatest Targeted Segments Globally in 2021
- Education/Research sector increased by 75%
- Cyber-attacks on Healthcare increased by 71%
- ISP/MSP increased by 67%
- Communications increased by 51%
- Government / Military sector increased by 47%
The most usual sorts of attacks on SMBs are
- Phishing/Social Engineering: 57%
- Compromised/Stolen Devices: 33%
- Credential Theft: 30%
In 2021 according to the Leger Survey, commissioned by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), 41% of small businesses that underwent a cyber-attack stated it cost them upwards of $100,000, which was 37% more costly than in 2019. Despite this trend, less than half of the SMBs surveyed began to implement defence systems to prevent cyberattacks, and a little less than a quarter were going to purchase cyber insurance in the next 12 months.
An AdvisorSmith study found that younger business owners were more likely to be concerned about cyber threats and were three times more likely to purchase cyber insurance. Often older business owners will be targeted for fraud and identity theft cyber-attacks because of this lack of concern. Regardless of business owner age, 69% of SMBs were concerned about future attacks, and 42% were victims of an attack in the last 12 months.
Business cycles are changing are at an incredible pace, and COVID has accelerated the change. The internet is a Silk Road of data and information which impacts industries of all types. Managed services and the use of a cloud provider can add additional security measures, such as:
- Encryption software
- Keep your software up-to-date
- Data backup solution
- Two-step authentication or password-security software
- Incident response plan
The cloud for SMBs is particularly significant, as smaller businesses will feel more intense instabilities with a greater danger more frequently. The cloud avoids this impediment by empowering SMBs to have additional security capacity. This means they can have a level of security foresight based on their future or current needs without having to invest a great amount in predicting events.
Managed services take a proactive approach to spot early warning signs to mitigate attacks and breaches, and in the worst-case scenario provide you with a plan to bounce back so that your business is not slowed down.
Micro Computer Consulting can deliver your SMB solutions to digitize your company and ensure you are adopting new technologies that will prevent cyber-attacks.
