Cyber Defense eMagazine December 2019

95
between 10 and 49 people, estimated at around 130,000 companies nationwide, were the victim of
some form of cybercrime in 2018.
Where You Are Most Vulnerable
The most common form of cyber attacks are phishing attacks through fraudulent emails or by being
directed to fraudulent websites. 49% of cyber attacks that target small businesses are fraudulent emails
and 72% of businesses have been affected by fraudulent emails.
The main defence against this form of cyber attack is strong staff training in regards to cyber security.
Phishing attacks are so successful because only 25% of small businesses give their staff formal cyber
security training, leaving the rest vulnerable to social engineering attacks.
Small businesses that are based in the North West, the South East and the West Midlands are more
likely to suffer from cyber attacks than the rest of the country. 25%, 23% and 21% of small businesses
based in these areas reported cyber attacks respectively. However, by understanding the risk of
cybercrime and the common nature of cyber attacks you will be in a much stronger position to protect
your business.
Covering the Risk of Cyber Attacks
Many small business owners mistakenly believe that they are not at risk of cyber attacks and therefore
make little to no effort to prepare for one. Only 39% of small businesses in the UK have formal policies
covering cyber attacks and only 14% have formal incident management processes in the event of an
attack. By not having a clear strategy in place to manage the impact of a cyber attack, small businesses
significantly hamper their ability to detect and prevent any breaches.
One out of three small businesses has admitted to not installing any security software over the past two
years. 40% of small businesses also do not regularly update their cyber security software or back up
their data and IT systems.
In addition, 66% of businesses that are the victim of cyber attacks fail to make any changes in their
policies or systems that would prevent further breaches. In fact, over half (56%) of small businesses
that have suffered a cyber security breach proceed to be the victims of further attacks.
The Rising Cost of Cyber Attacks
The average cost of cyber attacks on UK small businesses continues to rise each year. In fact, the total
cost of cyber attacks has more than doubled since 2017 with the average attack now costing
businesses £6,160.
The direct costs to small businesses include ransoms paid or hardware that has to be replaced,
however, this is just the beginning. Cyber attacks can cause further damage through loss of business
thanks to down periods for recovery time or loss of trust from the damage done to your reputation.