With the surge in the number of data breaches, experts opined that small businesses must evaluate their data security measures. As employees are working remotely during the pandemic, cybersecurity for small businesses become especially critical. According to a new report from The Manifest, one-fifth of small businesses (15%) suffered either a hack (7%), virus (5%), or data breach (3%) in 2019. The report revealed that 67% of small businesses reported they will devote more resources to enhance their cybersecurity in 2020. The findings are based on the responses from 383 small business owners and security leaders.
“Small business cyberattacks might not garner the same news headlines as those impacting larger companies, but they happen. A cyberattack on a small business can have dire consequences, losing it time, money, and customer loyalty,” the report said.
Small Businesses Want to Increase Cybersecurity Resources
The Manifest revealed that, at the time of the survey in December 2019, most small businesses (64%) said they were planning to allocate more resources to cybersecurity in 2020. The present economic dip due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may result in small businesses failing with their cybersecurity improvement plans. However, small businesses can follow cost-effective solutions to cybersecurity like restricting employee access to certain data and maintaining strong passwords.
According to the report, the most popular strategies small businesses carry out for cybersecurity are limiting employee access to data (46%) and encrypting data (44%), followed by requiring strong passwords (34%) and training employees on data safety (34%).
A similar survey by the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) on small businesses revealed that 60% of small businesses do not have a cybersecurity policy. The survey, which included 412 small business owners, revealed that while most small business owners are concerned about cyberattacks, many lack the resources to invest in necessary security measures – and half of them are worried that remote work will lead to more cyberattacks. It revealed that only 40% of small businesses have implemented a cybersecurity policy. Around 40% of businesses stated that economic uncertainty prevents them from making security investments. While 46% have offered training to help their employees stay secure while working remotely.
