Why does Cybersecurity matter to SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses)?
50%1
of cyber attacks target SMBs
60%2
of SMBs go out of business after a cyber attack
350%3
more social engineering attacks are targeted towards small companies than larger companies
43%4
of SMBs lack any type of cybersecurity defense plans
20%5
of SMBs use no endpoint security whatsoever
95%6
of breaches are attributed to human error
$25,000
Research shows that, on average, SMBs lose $25,000 per incident.7
Small Business, Big Impact
Why put your already limited resources into preparing for and protecting against cybersecurity attacks?
Vulnerability
Attackers can see small business as easy targets
Business Cost
Attacks can be incredibly costly and can threaten the viability of your business
Reputation
Customers and employees expect and trust you to keep their information secure
- Small businesses are prime targets because they may not have comprehensive cybersecurity defenses
- Cleanup costs are responsible for about half of total costs, with the other half being due to business disruption
- In addition to direct remediation costs, such as repairs to systems and hardware, business may also face a litany of indirect remediation costs, including:
– Regulatory or industry fines for compliance violations
– Civil lawsuits from customers, business partners, or both
– Higher cyber insurance premiums
– Higher fees from payment processors if the cyber attack causes your customers to file a significant number of credit card chargebacks
– Customer refunds and incentives, such as credit monitoring
– Lost sales and business opportunities
- “Course 10, Tutorial 1 the Impact of Cybersecurity on Small Business – SBIR.” Sbir.Gov, www.sbir.gov/sites/all/themes/sbir/dawnbreaker/img/documents/Course10-Tutorial1.pdf. ↩︎
- “Course 10, Tutorial 1 the Impact of Cybersecurity on Small Business – SBIR.” Sbir.Gov, www.sbir.gov/sites/all/themes/sbir/dawnbreaker/img/documents/Course10-Tutorial1.pdf. ↩︎
- Segal, Edward. “Small Businesses Are More Frequent Targets of Cyberattacks than Larger Companies: New Report.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Oct. 2022, www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/03/30/cyber-criminals/?sh=5486ed3a52ae. ↩︎
- BullGuard. “New Study Reveals One in Three Smbs Use Free Consumer Cybersecurity and One in Five Use No Endpoint Security at All.” Cision PRWeb Provides Efficient Communication Tools to Continuously Engage with Target Audiences across Multiple Online Channels, 8 Sept. 2023, www.prweb.com/releases/new-study-reveals-one-in-three-smbs-use-free-consumer-cybersecurity-and-one-in-five-use-no-endpoint-security-at-all-824695692.html. ↩︎
- BullGuard. “New Study Reveals One in Three Smbs Use Free Consumer Cybersecurity and One in Five Use No Endpoint Security at All.” Cision PRWeb Provides Efficient Communication Tools to Continuously Engage with Target Audiences across Multiple Online Channels, 8 Sept. 2023, www.prweb.com/releases/new-study-reveals-one-in-three-smbs-use-free-consumer-cybersecurity-and-one-in-five-use-no-endpoint-security-at-all-824695692.html. ↩︎
- “After Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, the 4th ‘R’ of Literacy Is Cyber-Risk.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/cyber-risk-cyber-security-education/. ↩︎
- Palatty, Nivedita James. “39+ Small Business Cyber Attack Statistics 2023 (and What You Can Do about Them).” Astra Security Blog, 26 Oct. 2023, www.getastra.com/blog/security-audit/small-business-cyber-attack-statistics/#:~:text=51%20Small%20Business%20Cyber%20Attack%20Statistics%202023%20(And,You%20Can%20Do%20About%20Them)&text=Small%20businesses%20account%20for%2043,with%201%2C000%20or%20fewer%20employees. ↩︎
