More than a quarter (26%) of UK SMBs have been targeted by ransomware in the past year, with half (47%) making payments to extortioners, according to new data from Avast .
To better understand the risk landscape over the past 12 months, security vendors surveyed 1,000 IT decision makers in UK SMBs in October.
More than two-thirds (68%) of respondents said they were more concerned about being attacked since the war in Ukraine began, fueling that concern, half (50%) are investing in cyber insurance.
It’s wise to do so, given that 41% of people hit by ransomware lost their data and 34% lost access to their devices, according to Avast.
Given that SMBs make up over 99% of the country’s private enterprise, it’s encouraging that cyber is now seen as a major business risk. Nearly half (48%) named it one of the biggest threats they face today, while 66% cited financial risk stemming from skyrocketing operating costs.
More respondents cited cyber as their top threat than physical security (35%) or supply chain disruption (33%).
However, the majority of SMB leaders (81%) believe governments should do more. Incident response assistance (60%) and more explicit information about cybercrime risk (58%) were the most cited.
The government’s recent decision to offer free Cyber Essentials support to small businesses is a welcome step in the right direction.
Avast Business VP of Strategy Lindsey Pyle argued that SMBs are one of the most vulnerable groups to cyberthreats.
“Often they have very limited budgets and resources, and often lack the staff to manage security holistically. It also slows down the reaction,” she said.
Conversely, SMBs can use their relative agility to accelerate efforts to strengthen cyber resilience before a potentially serious incident occurs.
“Small businesses should be prepared and plan to leverage these strengths. At a minimum, implement online and offline backups, install antivirus, set up network monitoring, and establish an automated patching regime. You have to make sure that,” concluded Pyle.
