Small businesses are unaware of the IT security risks they face, it has been claimed.
Research carried out among small and medium-sized firms across Europe has found that smaller businesses do not believe they are facing a real threat from cyber criminals.
Almost half of the firms polled said that cyber crime is an issue for larger organisations only; 45% believed not being well-known would prevent IT security threats, and 58% said they were not a ‘valuable target’ for cyber criminals.
According to McAfee, the technology company that commissioned the research, this suggests that small firms are ‘burying their heads in the sand’, since 73% of businesses polled deem online access and availability critical to their business.
‘“We know that cyber criminals don’t discriminate, to them size doesn’t matter,” said Greg Day, senior security analyst at McAfee.
Almost 60% of businesses said they wouldn’t make a cyber criminal any money, but Day warned against such assumptions:
“Every small and medium-sized business, even very small ones, will have customer details or financial information that will be of use to a cyber criminal.”
The findings suggested that as well as attitude, a lack of time and resources could be leaving small firms at risk. Nearly 30% of those polled said they spent only one hour a week on IT security management, even though 19% said an attack could put them out of business.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
