Nearly half (44%) of all businesses with fewer than 10 employees have been a victim of cyber-crime, including internet scams, identity fraud, phishing and data theft, according to the government‘s Get Safe Online campaign.
Almost one in five (19%) had lost revenue as a direct result of the attack, the research discovered, with the average figure cited as £1,540. This equates to a total of £750m across the UK small business population.
The survey revealed that, of those businesses affected, more than a third (36%) have suffered from a computer virus and almost one in five have been a victim of internet scams such as phishing, spyware or hacking in the last two years. Over half (60%) admitted their business would grind to a halt if their IT system failed.
Less than a third (32%) of small businesses considered themselves to be fully up-to-date with current PC/internet security issues, despite the fact that 69% stores customer details on their PCs. This means any attack could compromise customers‘ security as well as the original company in question.
“Businesses must look at access control, data encryption and secure password practices, as well as looking at other measures such as staff training,” claimed Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online. “But it‘s also important to remember that by taking a few simple precautions, online risks needn‘t overshadow the huge benefits that the internet brings to UK businesses.
“The good news is that small businesses are taking the general basic steps to protect themselves,” he added. “For example, 97% of those surveyed in our research protect their IT equipment with anti-virus software.”
But only 5% of small companies have access to a dedicated IT resource – either internally or through an outsourced provider – with many business owners preferring to take on responsibility for this key business issue themselves.