The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s report on Cyber Security Breaches 2020 shows that 46% of businesses reported a cyber-attack in the previous 12 months. Of these businesses – 19% have experiences a material outcome – losing money or data as a result.
But what could be the actual risks for an SME in the event of a cyber breach?
Austen Clark outlines how your money, your data and your equipment are all at risk in a cyber-attack.
“Think about the most important data that your business holds in your systems. Your client databases, your own bank details? It’s unlikely that you run a business without these details being saved on your systems and all of this is at serious risk if your systems aren’t robust enough to withstand a cyber-attack. It’s a challenge for businesses at the best of times, but during lockdown, the proportion of attacks on those working from home has risen from 12% pre lockdown to 60% during lockdown.”
“Your intellectual property is also at risk. How important is your pricing structure to you – and how useful would it be to a competitor? Do you have all of your product designs and specs on file along with your manufacturing processes? Do you have growth plans which you think are secure on your system? And how important are your supply chain relationships to you? Cyber criminals may use access to your system as a way to hack into the suppliers you use.
“There’s a lot at risk when you add all of this up. Small businesses which fall foul of cyber criminals find this out to their financial cost. Around 60% of small businesses which experience an attack shut down within six months of the attack.
“Others suffer direct financial hits when their banking information is stolen. However, it can be the financial loss which results from business disruption which is overlooked.
“Reputational damage will also be high following a cyber breach, and who wants to be the business boss who has to call all their customers and suppliers to tell them that their information has been compromised and may have been stolen by the attackers?”
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