Have Small Businesses Gotten Serious About Cybersecurity Yet?

Are small businesses ready for a cyberattack? They’re trying, based on April 2015 polling by Endurance International Group, which found that 63% of US small-business owners (SBOs) had measures in place to defend against cyberattacks.

However, SBOs also have a lot of room for growth in cybersecurity, particularly when it comes to resources. The research found that few respondents relied on professionals with specific IT-related skill sets. Instead, 83% of SBOs said they handled cybersecurity at their company. In comparison, just 5% relied on an internal IT employee and 6% turned to an outside IT consultant.

No matter how well they were prepared for a cyberattack, the overwhelming majority of respondents were concerned about having to deal with one. Over eight in 10 respondents said they were worried about cybersecurity. January 2015 research by the National Small Business Association (NSBA) found similar results. Here, 92% of US SBOs were concerned about cybersecurity. However, about half in this group were only “somewhat” concerned, suggesting that not all those who were worried would take instant steps to overcome uneasiness.

But they’ll have to act on these worries, or risk becoming victims. According to NSBA, the percentage of US SBOs whose companies had experienced a cyberattack, including a computer virus, malware/spyware, website hack, credit card or banking hack, Trojan and so forth, rose between 2013 and 2015 from 44% to 50%.

Small businesses have generally woken up to the reality of cyberattacks. Now they need the skill sets and technology to avoid becoming a statistic.

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