Cybersecurity Protection for Business: Small Business Cybersecurity Risks Are Real

Connecticut’s first state-wide cybersecurity survey was conducted in the fall by CBIA alongside select partners including us to assess small businesses’ awareness of cybersecurity risks and how they are preparing and protecting themselves. We felt it important to share not only because of our involvement in this effort and CBIA’s work, but also because we found the results to be, frankly, alarming.

The goal of this exercise was to raise awareness about issues businesses in CT face as well as to get a clearer picture of how prepared the business community in CT is against cyber attacks and vulnerabilities. Responses were fairly low, as compared to economic and public policy surveys, but the results of this survey offered evidence that CT businesses will have to move quicker to understand and adopt management techniques to prepare for and combat threats going forward.

The survey found that just under 1/4 of businesses in CT experienced breaches or attacks within the last couple of years. Over 1/4 of respondents weren’t even sure of the source behind the incident(s) they experienced. Many businesses feel that their financial resources and lack of expertise make it so they’re less capable of managing efforts to protect their organization. Only about 18% of all of the companies surveyed actually set aside a budget for cybersecurity. Of those who know where the threat came from, we can confirm that over 60% of the incidents involved hackers, and over 10% involved employees of their companies. Perhaps the most jarring statistic related to this, though, is the fact that over 1/4 of companies surveyed weren’t sure who or what was behind the attack(s) they saw.

You can learn about the role of employees in overall business security here, which was presented by our VP of Operations, Steve Martocchio.

You can access the full 2018 Cybersecurity Survey of Connecticut Businesses report here.

Sadly, for about 40% of the respondents, the reason cited for no proper cyber risk management in place is their apparent lack of resources. Another 1/4 said it was lack of expertise.
Cooperative Systems can help you to overcome both of those obstacles and successfully safeguard your business.

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