Nearly half of small businesses in US hit by cyber attack in past 12 months

Homeland June 22, 2018

A new survey has revealed that nearly half of small businesses suffered at least one cyber attack in the past year.

According to the 2018 Hiscox Small Business Cyber Risk Report, which surveyed 4,103 professionals responsible for their organisation’s cyber security strategy, 47% of the small businesses s had at least one cyber attack in the past year, with 44% of those subject to two to four attacks.

The top three cyber related insurance claims were related to ransomware, hacking and loss or misuse of data. The most common type of these – ransomware – locks users out of their data and demands payment for its release. This form of attack hit the headlines in 2017 when the WannaCry attack disabled hundreds of thousands of computers across the globe.

The report states that Business owners and executives cited a cyber attack as one of the top two concerns for their business, along with fraud. Despite 66% of small businesses declaring they were concerned or very concerned about cyber risk, the vast majority failed to take the basic steps to prepare.

Only 16% of small businesses are very confident in their cyber security readiness.

The survey also revealed that the average cost of cyber crime in the US for small businesses was around $34,604, while for large companies (more than 1,000 employees) the cost came to $1.05 million.

In terms of implementing a cyber defence strategy that prevents, detects and mitigate, Hiscox recognise the importance of budgeting for resources to combat potential cyber threats but also recommends a implementing a strategy that includes ‘planning responses, practicing those responses and evaluating their success’.

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Hiscox Small Business Cyber Risk Report