Only a quarter of small businesses feel they are “well prepared” for a cyber-attack on their company. This is according to a recent survey on IT risks organizations face during their everyday work by Netwrix Corporation, provider of a visibility platform for data security and risk mitigation in hybrid environments.
Small Businesses Not Feeling Prepared for a Cyber Attack
According to Netwrix’s 2017 IT Risks Report, 73 percent of small businesses don’t have a separate information security function. They don’t have IT teams responsible for security. And 88 percent of SMBs don’t even use any software for information security governance or risk management.
Lack of budget and insufficient staff training were named by small businesses as the main obstacles to better security. Lack of time was also pointed out as a key obstacle to better security. Some small businesses are, however, planning to take or strengthen a data-centric approach to security this year.
Small Businesses Planning to Strengthen Data Security
“We see a growing interest from SMBs in adopting a data-centric approach as well. SMBs are striving to gain visibility into user activity around data to become more proactive and successful in dealing with cyber threats,” said Michael Fimin, CEO and co-founder of Netwrix in a press statement.
SMBs consider visibility into on-premises systems (49%), cloud systems (36%) and corporate mobile devices (34%) to be most critical for security. And 34 percent of SMBs are planning to invest in protection against data breaches, 31 percent in intellectual property theft, and 31 percent in fraud.
The need for improved cyber security has increased following a recent spike in cyber attacks. Data from 2016 indicates 43 percent of cyber attacks target small businesses. The threats are growing and changing as quickly as online technology. The question is how well is your business prepared for a cyber attack?
Netwrix surveyed 723 IT pros from organizations around the globe that provided their feedback for the report. Two thirds of respondents come from small and medium businesses.
Images: Netwrix
This article, “Only 1 in 4 Small Businesses Well Prepared for Cyber Attack” was first published on Small Business Trends