Are Your Computers and IT Systems at Risk of Cyber-Crime?
As part of a small business you are probably
aware of how vital it is to keep your
computers and technology protected against
viruses and other threats. Yet a huge number
of small and medium sized businesses (SMB)
have insufficient security in place, and are
leaving themselves at risk of cyber-crime.
A survey by security
firm McAfee has found that almost half of
small businesses are putting themselves at
risk despite being aware that cyber crime
could seriously damage their business.
47% of those surveyed
thought that cyber crime was an issue for
large companies, while 45% thought they
would not be a target as their business is
not well known. 58% were not concerned
about being a victim of cyber crime, and 56%
believed they couldn’t make a cyber criminal
any money.
This is even though 20%
had already experienced a security attack,
73% of those surveyed deemed online access
and availability critical to the running of
their business, and 19% said that an attack
could put them out of business.
“We know that cyber criminals don’t
discriminate, to them size doesn’t matter,” said Greg Day, Senior Security Analyst, McAfee. “Every SMB,
even very small ones, will have customer
details or financial information that will
be of use to a cyber criminal.”
It does seem however
that a lack of time is the main reason why
so many businesses are leaving themselves at
risk. 28% of businesses had just one hour a
week to spend on IT issues, so it’s hardly
surprising that so many are not able to look
after their IT security properly.
“As many of the SMBs
surveyed have just one hour per week to
spend on IT security, rather than spend such
little time our advice to SMBs is to find a
trusted partner that can help them assess
their risk,” comments Greg Day, Senior
Security Analyst, McAfee. “Choosing a
managed solution and outsourcing security
helps SMBs free up their time to focus on
other priorities, confident in the knowledge
that their IT security needs are covered by
an expert. It can also mean security
technologies that are otherwise out of their
price range are available to them.”
For more information on security and other
IT topics visit our Internet and Technology
section here.
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