Security misconceptions among small businesses

More than 1,000 SMBs participated in a joint McAfee and Office Depot survey last month, and the majority (66 percent) felt confident that their data and devices are secure and safe from hackers, with 77 percent responding that they haven’t been hacked.

The results are at odds with industry research that has revealed these same businesses are prime targets of complex and evolving cyber threats.

“Cyber attacks on small businesses rarely make headlines, so it is easy for these business owners to be lulled into a false sense of security, as indicated in this survey. It is especially important for small business owners to secure their systems, as they may not have the resources to survive a cyber attack, unlike a large corporation,” said Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27).

Seventy-two percent of data breaches investigated by Verizon Communications’ forensic analysis unit were focused on companies with less than 100 employees2. The discrepancy suggests that many SMBs are not aware that they’ve been attacked.

The study also found the following:

• Only nine percent of SMBs use endpoint/mobile device security
• 80 percent don’t use data protection
• Less than half use email security
• About half use Internet security
• 45 percent of SMBs do not secure company data on employees’ personal devices.

One of the biggest reveals from the survey was that 14 percent of SMBs haven’t implemented any security measures.