Most small businesses can’t restore all data after a cyber attack

Almost one-third of U.S. small businesses surveyed by the Ponemon Institute had a cyber attack in the previous year, and nearly three-quarters of those businesses were not able to fully restore their company’s computer data.

The primary causes of cyber attacks on small businesses were computer viruses, worms and Trojans (61 percent) and unspecified malware (22 percent), the Ponemon Institute reported. Following the cyber attacks, 72 percent were not able to fully restore their company’s data.

The survey found that 29 percent of the small businesses experienced a computer-based attack. The consequences of those attacks included managing potential damage to their reputations (59 percent); theft of business information (49 percent); the loss of angry or worried customers (48 percent) and network and data center downtime (48 percent).

In recently released findings on data breaches, the Ponemon Institute surveyed the same small businesses, health care providers and professionals around the U.S. and found that 53 percent had experienced a data breach and 55 percent of those businesses had multiple breaches.

More about

Don't miss