Tuesday, May 2, 2017

If you think your small business isn’t at risk for cybercrime, think again


If you’ve ever spoken or though the words, “We’re too small to worry about a cyberattack,” you’d better think again.

According to a recent study, 31 percent of all cyberattacks in 2016 were directed at companies with less than 250 employees.

Do I now have your attention? 

If you’re still on the fence, consider these other stats, courtesy of Dark Reading:

  • 98 percent of all companies suffered a cyberattack in 2016.
  • The average company suffers a minimum of 11 cyberattacks per day, with some facing as many as 50 daily.
  • 27 percent of all cyber incidents are caused by insiders due to malicious or accidental actions. 
  • Individuals open 30 percent of phishing messages directed to them, with another 12 percent clicking the malicious attachment or link, enabling the attack to succeed.
  • 40 percent of companies have no cyber incident response plan in place
  • 70 percent of companies lack cyber insurance.
  • Over the lifespan of a mobile device, 22 percent of all such devices will disappear, with over 50 percent of those never to be recovered. With more and more internet traffic flowing via mobile over desktop, these missing devices (along with other security holes such as open and unsecured wifi) pose a huge risk to your data security.

Come back tomorrow, when I will discuss your first and best defense against a cyberattack, a Data Security Policy, and the key elements that it must have to best shield your company.