When cyber-attacks and data breaches hit the news, they invariably involve the largest businesses or national institutions like the NHS. But this doesn’t mean owner managed businesses (OMBs) are not under threat too. Every OMB, regardless of size or industry sector, is at risk.
Our latest research, entitled “Here, there and everywhere: the cyber threats facing OMBs”, reports on the levels of awareness that OMBs have regarding the various threats facing their businesses, the steps that OMBs are taking to counter rising threats – and provides a unique insight from global insurer, Beazley, on the steps that business leaders can take to protect their businesses.
Detailed below are some of the key findings from our research of business leaders across the UK:
– 82% of OMBs disagreed with the statement “When I hear about a big company suffering a cyber-attack or data breach – it doesn’t feel relevant to my business”;
– The majority (57%) of OMBs recognise that they do not need to be specifically targeted to be a victim, and that simple human error is a real threat;
– Malicious code (83%), computer viruses (82%) and phishing email scams (80%) are the key threats that OMBs are aware of and that pose the biggest threat to their business;
– In total, 41% of OMBs have already suffered from either a cyber-attack or an inadvertent data loss (30% from cyber-attack and 21% from data loss);
– 68% of small OMB business leaders recognise their current cyber prevention isn’t sufficient – and that they’d benefit from cyber insurance to help their business recover. But only 26% have already invested in it.
It’s vital that all OMBs take the basic and essential steps to establish and maintain their cyber-attack and data loss defences – setting policies, maintaining controls and training staff. No defences can be 100% secure, but they can go a long way towards preventing breaches and the unnecessary costs, business disruption and damaged reputations that follow.
A full copy of the report is now available to download here, and to discuss any of the findings of our report, please contact Mark Lamb or Steve Williams.
