https://www.xperience-group.com/news-item/sme-cybersecurity-survey/
With cyber-attacks on the rise, and data security of utmost importance, Xperience Group has conducted a cybersecurity survey to determine the preparedness of UK SME’s.
The research conducted, surveyed a pool of SME’s across the UK and found that 70% of businesses believe there’s room for improvement when it comes to their business data, with 40% of UK SME’s having no cyber-security strategy in place. With General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect from May 2018, the survey highlights most businesses continue to neglect data protection, not realising the consequences.
Despite 84% of UK SME’s having a dedicated employee managing IT and cyber-security, 11% ‘can’t remember’ the last time they carried out a security audit on their system.
Richard Kennedy, Director of Cloud Services & Infrastructure, Richard Kennedy comments on the findings, “Unfortunately, it’s not surprising that 40% of SMEs don’t have a security strategy in place, especially as businesses are more vulnerable than ever to an attack, due to the evolution of the threat landscape. Employee education, training and the implementation of technologies such as automated patch management, intrusion prevention and anti-virus/malware services are of paramount importance.”
As 51% of UK SME’s revealed their business is at risk of cyber-attack, and only 67% of businesses feel only ‘somewhat prepared’ for a cyber-attack, it paints a rather grey picture of the understanding businesses have when it comes to their data.Richard remarks, “As experts in the IT industry, we want educate SME’s on how they can be more prepared against cyber-attacks and ensure their data is protected. Whether that be an advice-based chat, or devising a full security strategy, we’re here to help.”
As a result, the data in this survey shows that UK businesses will need to adopt a proactive approach to their data security if they are to avoid being the victim of an attack or indeed the costly fines that linked to GDPR.