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Most small businesses 'unprepared' for data breach

By Jamie Lawrence | September 29, 2011

Research suggests that close to three-quarters of small businesses are not prepared to deal with a security breach
Research suggests that close to three-quarters of small businesses are not prepared to deal with a security breach
Close to three-quarters of small businesses are not prepared to deal with a data security breach, according to the latest research.

Newtek Business Services discovered that only 27 percent of small businesses in the US have had an outside party test their data security systems to ensure they can withstand hacking attacks.

This figure is likely to be similar in the UK, and is worrying considering that the number of cyber-attacks targeting businesses is on the increase.

Newtek’s poll of over 1200 SME owners also revealed that 39 percent admit their data is only backed up in one location, while over a third (35 percent) said a natural disaster had made it more difficult to access important data.

Barry Sloane, president and CEO of Newtek, said the survey revealed a widespread lack of preparedness among SMEs with regard to both manmade and natural disasters.

"We believe that small to medium-sized business owners need to review all aspects of their data security and disaster recovery effort," he said.

Another survey by Dell Kace revealed businesses are concerned that the rise of mobile computing is affecting their ability to cope with data security issues.

As workers become more mobile, and more data is stored online, companies must ensure they take sufficient steps to ensure that sensitive information can’t be compromised.

Comments

  • Millie
    Millie 3 months ago

    Good point. I hadn't thought about it quite that way. :)

  • Jim Lillig
    Jim Lillig 7 months ago

    SME's need to prepare their systems and employees to avoid being a victim. While no one can completely "protect" themselves against a breach, 95% of SMB data breach incidents can be avoided with better protocols and procedures in place with employees and third party vendors who have access to sensitive data. At www.IdentityIntactforBusiness.com they have a Preparedness Kit that gives SME owners and business managers a clear set of do*****ents that they can build their HR, IT and Data Security policies from through self-assessments, best practice recommendations and pre-written forms. They also offer a wide range of response and reimbursement solutions to ensure that businesses have a safety net should the worst occur. Standard business' coverage does not always apply when you are talking about what happens to data that is stolen or accidentally lost. If you own an SME, you can have action taken against you for what happens with your data, Sony is an excellent example of how a data breach can go horribly wrong. They had over 100 million records compromised and by the WSJ's estimates will cost them over $1 Billion or more to recover from. Even with all their money, they have lost a percentage of customers due to their data breach. If Sony, T J Maxx, Citigroup and a slew of other top names cannot protect themselves adequately from being targets, what does that say for the SME with little budget to provide for sophisticated data security measures?

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