Small Businesses are not prepared for Cyber Attacks

An alarming number of UK small and medium sized businesses (SMBs/SMEs) lack a comprehensive cyber security solution, leaving them exposed to cyber threats with potentially disastrous consequences. Recent research has shown that 81% of cyber attacks target small to medium sided businesses, with 97% of those breaches being preventable with the latest cyber security solutions. The cost of data breaches increased by 10% in 2021, reaching an average of over £3.42 million. Despite this, only 14% of small to medium sized businesses are well-prepared for a cyber attack, putting those unprotected at a higher risk of facing cyber threats in the coming years.

Small to Medium sized businesses are particularly vulnerable to ransomware attacks, which have become increasingly severe and costly in recent years. Criminals encrypt, steal and threaten to publish private and confidential information unless a ransom is paid, with the average payment amount soaring from £400 in 2016 to over £746,000 within the first five months of 2022. Ransom payments have jumped by 71% alone between 2021 and 2022, including expenses for remediation, downtime, and harm caused to a business’s reputation. Because of this, many victims are left paying large amounts without any guarantee that they will regain control of their systems or restoration of their data. Even then, if cyber criminals hold a copy of their data, that could still pose ongoing risks.

There are several factors contributing to small to medium sized businesses lack of concern for cyber security. Many business owners view cyber security solutions as too expensive or regard them as a costly investment, opting for more affordable legacy cyber security measures. Others believe they will never become victims of cyber crime or consider it unnecessary to invest in proper cyber security resources. Due to a lack of knowledge and education about evolving cyber threats, along with outdated devices and software, this leaves many businesses unprepared for cyber security attacks.

Small to Medium sized businesses are just as exposed to cyber threats as larger corporations and must take their business’s cyber security seriously. Business owners need to invest in the appropriate infrastructure, security solutions, increase their knowledge about potential threats, and recognise the importance of a comprehensive cyber security solution, providing a crucial barrier between businesses and malicious actors, safeguarding sensitive information and reducing the risk of costly repercussions.

What are some of the key areas of a robust Cyber Security Solution?

• Active Email Threat Protection: Secure your email from Phishing, Impersonation and Targeted Attacks, Active Email Threat protection monitors all of your emails including, checking links, files and even email language to ensure your business is protected from the latest threats.
• Endpoint Detection & Response: Traditional Signature Based Anti-Virus only protects from 25-40% of malware, EDR monitors your endpoints in real time for zero day threats and unusual or malicious activity that goes undetected by anti-virus.
• Strong Passwords & Password Policies: A 7 character password that has Upper and Lower case Letters and Numbers takes less than a minute to crack, a 10 character password containing Upper and Lower case Letters, Special Characters and Numbers takes 5 months to crack. A strong business password policy with minimum character length and requirements is vital for your account security.
• Multi-Factor Authentication: If your business account details are leaked or cracked, multi-factor authentication can protect your accounts from being accessed, MFA adds an extra layer of account security by providing you with a secondary one time code or authentication to provide access to your accounts.
• Dark Web Monitoring: The Dark Web is a dangerous place, every day personal and private information is leaked or sold on the dark web by malicious individuals. Dark web monitoring scours this data to ensure that your business account details have not been linked, providing us and you with alerts so that we can work together to protect your accounts from potential threats.
• Firewall Protection: Protect your business from targeted attacks with a firewall, providing all the security rules to protect your network from unauthorised access. However, the working environment is evolving and not all of your employees may be at the office. With solutions such as Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), your firewall is in the cloud, protecting all of your business devices regardless of where they are in the world.
• 3, 2, 1 Backup: If your business was targeted in a ransomware attack, or suffered some a hardware failure or natural disaster, could you carry on working or recover? The 3, 2, 1 Backup solution ensures that there are always 3 copies of your business data (with one being off site). We also provide Cloud Storage Backup Solutions and Cloud to Cloud Backup Solutions to ensure that all of your essential data is safe, secure and restorable.
• And more, including Security Awareness Training, Encryption, Managed Computer & Security Updates, Web Gateway Security and Mobile Device Management & Security.

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