For the average kiwi business owner, it can be tempting to put cybersecurity efforts to the bottom of the list (until it’s too late!!!). We’ve heard all the excuses: “There’s so much to do,” “There’s not enough budget,” “Our business is too small to target,”. But right now, cybersecurity is a must-have for every business.

Think of it like business insurance. You don’t intend to get sued or have accidents, but you have insurance to cover if the worst happens. Similarly, having robust cybersecurity in place:

• protects your business from the potential of reputational damage;
• protects you from the much unwanted business disruption;
• provides you and your employees with peace of mind;
• saves you time, money, and stress.

According to a study released in March 2022 by cloud security company Barracuda Networks, “on average, an employee of a small business with less than 100 employees will experience 350% more social engineering attacks than an employee of a larger enterprise.” That makes small businesses three times more likely to be targeted.  In fact, your business may already have been attacked. The same study found that one in five organizations had at least one account compromised in 2021. And hackers need only one account to launch from. An attack can spread without you knowing if you don’t have the right detection and protection tools in place.

Advice for small business owners and managers

Digital attacks are on the rise, and you need to ensure you are on the front foot. Hackers target small businesses because they expect them to have fewer IT resources and are easier targets with more weak points to exploit.  Think of it like home security – a burglar targets a home that doesn’t have an alarm or security cameras rather than take the risk of one across the street with those additional protections in place.  Do you have “cyber cameras and alarms” on in your business, or like many is your front door not even locked and the back window left open?

Take the target off your back

So, back to the beginning. Investing in cybersecurity needs to move up your priority list before it’s too late.  You can’t afford not to.  Finding relevant NZ stats is a bit of a challenge but according to the Australian Cyber Security Centre, “Australia spent approximately $5.6 billion on cybersecurity in 2020, and self-reported losses from cybercrime totaled more than $33 billion.” We are now seeing insurance companies refusing to underwrite clients for cyber insurance in cases where are poorly protected indicating the risk is very real.

94% of businesses don’t survive after a major loss of business data

The damage caused by one compromised account can be devastating for a small business. The stats aren’t pretty.  Don’t risk the worst happening: protect your cybersecurity with the help of specialists who can identify weak points and vulnerabilities in your cybersecurity and implement safeguards to defend your business.

Concerned about your cyber risk.  Have to a chat to us about our Cyber Assessment process.