SMBs see a "significant" increase in targeted cybersecurity breaches for the 3rd consecutive year, Ponemon reports, with attacks growing across business in Europe, the UK and US in terms of both frequency and sophistication.
The findings come from the 2019 Global State of Cybersecurity in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses report, a survey commissioned by Keeper Security measuring the responses of 2391 IT and security practitioners in the US, UK, DACH, Benelux and Scandinavia. Of the number, 45% say the posture of their organisations regarding IT is "ineffective," while 39% lack an incident response plan.
On a global basis, 66% of respondents report attacks taking place over the past 12 months. Attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with phishing (57%), compromised or stolen devices (33%) and credential theft (30%) as the most common attacks used against SMBs globally. In addition, 63% of businesses report an incident involving the loss of sensitive information about customers and employees in the past year.
Further pointing out an opportunity is security, SMBs are adopting emerging technologies such as mobile devices, IoT and biometrics despite a lack of confidence in the ability to protect sensitive information. In fact, 48% of respondents access over 50% of business-critical applications from mobile devices, yet 49% say the use of mobile devices diminishes their security posture.
In addition, 80% of respondents think a security incident related to unsecured IoT devices could be "catastrophic," yet just 21% monitor the risk of IoT devices in the workplace. The study also suggests biometrics are becoming mainstreams, since 75% use biometrics to identify and authenticate, or have plans to do so.
"Cybercriminals are continuing to evolve their attacks with more sophisticated tactics, and companies of all sizes are in their crosshairs," the Ponemon Institute says. "The 2019 Global State of Cybersecurity in SMBs report demonstrates cyberattacks are a global phenomenon- and so is the lack of awareness and preparedness by businesses globally. Every organization, no matter where they are, no matter their size, must make cybersecurity a top priority."
Go Ponemon: Cyberattacks on SMBs Rising Globally, Becoming More Targeted and Sophisticated
